


Werewolves are just involuntary furries

by TeuthidaRegina



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Team Crafted - Freeform, Team as Family, okay two of them are werewolves, well team as pack but they're all werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-01 06:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 47,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21424768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeuthidaRegina/pseuds/TeuthidaRegina
Summary: "I mean, when you think about it, werewolves are just involuntary furries.""...You know, there are so many things that you can say and make other people aware of. Did this have to be one of them, Ty? Did you have to make me think about this?""Mad because you're a furry, aren't you.""If you're right, that would imply you're a furry too.""...I take it back then.""Too late for that. Thanks a lot, Ty."
Comments: 12
Kudos: 33





	1. Mitch is a dumbass

The worst part of full moons, in Jerome’s opinion, was getting outside without waking up Mitch.  
He made sure to always invite Mitch to the arena on the day before the full moon. A few long rounds of hunger games would have the archer exhausted and going to bed early. The others tended to be still awake when night fell, but they were somewhat easy to avoid. Ian and Quentin tended to hang out in the kitchen. Jason was on the roof, stargazing. Sky was locked in his room, claiming that he wanted to get more sleep. Seto was studying in the library, and Ty was usually either helping him or telling him to put the book down and sleep for once in his life. Jerome’s friends were usually, to put it lightly, unpredictable, but they had a sort of settled routine for this time of night. By the time they moved from the spots Jerome had memorized, he was usually out of the house.  
He could feel the full moon pulling at him. Fur itched under his skin, bones aching with the desire to shift. He shivered. He’d been a werewolf for years, and he had enough control to slow the transformation. But he couldn’t halt it forever. He needed to get outside. He had pretended to go to bed, but now he sprang up. Immediately, he tripped over a box on the floor. He cursed quietly, holding his foot. Damn it! He stood, testing his foot. Thank the gods, nothing seemed broken or sprained. He cracked open the door and slipped out, not noticing Mitch sitting up.  
His feet had started to shift a little from the pain and adrenaline. He could feel soft fur creeping up his legs as they bent into something more suited for a quadruped. He sped up a little, still careful to remain quiet. He could feel his hands shifting into paws even as he fumbled with the doorknob of the front door. “Come on, come on…” He snarled. He flung himself outside, all but slamming the door behind him. He collapsed with a gasp.  
He felt the fur sweeping over his body, his face pushing out into a muzzle. He felt his bones sliding and clicking together into the form of a wolf, changing in size and shape as needed. The transformation was swift and brutal tonight, and it was all he could do to maintain the focus needed for his clothes to shift into his skin. The last thing he needed was to ruin another suit. He lay there, panting, for a moment.  
“...WHAT.” Hearing Mitch scream, Jerome jumped to his feet, hackles raised. Mitch was staring at him, eyes wide. It was hard for Jerome to tell if it was in awe or terror. Jerome decided it was awe, as Mitch ran straight towards him. “You just turned into a giant wolf! Holy crap that’s sick-” Jerome bit down hard on Mitch’s hand as he reached out to pet him. It wasn’t really an intentional decision. He always needed a minute to recover from the transformation and get his bearings, and Mitch was so loud and moving so fast…  
Mitch reeled back the moment Jerome let go. He stood there for a moment, staring wide-eyed at Jerome, before he flopped over and passed out. Jerome whimpered, stepping towards Mitch and sniffing him. Out cold. He couldn’t just leave him here, someone would see him and have questions. Jerome shifted, bones cracking and popping as his legs and hips shifted, letting him stand upright and carry Mitch.  
He scooped up his friend, looking back at the house. He probably couldn’t get back inside without being noticed… guess he had no choice but to keep Mitch with him. Keeping one eye fixed on the house, watching for any movement, he ran into the woods. He had a nice cave he’d chased a bear out of a few months ago, that should be a good place to keep Mitch…  
By the time Jerome got there, Mitch had started snoring. Jerome snorted in amusement, carrying him to the back of the cave. He’d carried a pile of blankets there once he first claimed the cave, and now he pushed Mitch into the pile, dragging the blankets over him. It was a chilly night, he didn’t want Mitch freezing. Once he was certain Mitch was safe and warm, Jerome went to go fishing.  
Shifting back to all fours, he left the cave and ran until he reached the river. He waded in, the water soaking the fur on his legs. He stood there patiently, trying to ignore the cold. Wait for it… Wait for it… a flash of scales reflecting moonlight, and he lunged for the fish. His tail wagged as he caught it, carefully laying the fish on a nearby rock before going back to watching the water.  
He kept fishing like this for hours, letting instinct take over. It was nice, at times, to let his conscious mind drift into the back of his brain. The wolf didn’t worry about how he would explain all this to Mitch. The wolf didn’t worry about how Mitch would deal with being bitten. The wolf didn’t worry about what would happen if Mitch told the others. The wolf just wanted fish.  
Jerome would have kept fishing all night. But anxiety started creeping into his mind, overriding instinct. Mitch might recover from his shock and wake up soon. He’d wake up alone in the cave. He’d be scared. He’d have no idea what to do. He’d see the bite on his hand and not know if Jerome meant to do it. He didn’t know if his friend wanted to hurt him. There was absolutely no way Jerome could leave Mitch like that…  
With some difficulty fitting it all in his mouth, he picked up the fish and ran back to the cave. He saw the pile of blankets rustling, Mitch stirring awake at the smell of wet dog and fish. He sat up, yawning and blinking sleepily. His eyes focused, and he froze, staring at Jerome. His eyes slowly shifted away from the werewolf, and to his hand. Shaking a bit, Mitch brought his hand to his face, staring at the bite mark as it unsure it was real. Jerome whimpered, and Mitch’s eyes shot back to him. “I promise, none of this is what it looks like.” Jerome said.  
“...It looks like you turned into a werewolf and bit me, but I’d really, really like to hear what other possible explanation you could have.”  
“...Yeah, this is exactly what it looks like then. You’re… you’re a lot calmer about this than I thought you would be.”  
"Oh, I'll probably lose my mind freaking out once my brain is done processing all of this! But for now, this is just cool. So… I'm a werewolf now?"  
“Yeah. Your first transformation will probably be tomorrow night. There’s about three or so days where the moon is full enough to force a transformation. Quick warning though, you’re going to be a bit… feral.”  
“Feral?” Mitch questioned, now starting to sound a bit nervous.  
“First couple of transformations, human mind and animal instincts don’t mesh well. It’s going to take a while for them to fall into sync. Accepting the transformation helps-”  
“Alright then! I’m cool with being a werewolf! Sounds badass! I love it!”  
“-But even once you accept it, it still takes plenty of time, and it’ll probably be years before your mind remains the exact same in both forms. Until then, it's all instinct when you're shifted. Don't worry, I'll be around to keep you out of garbage cans." Jerome didn't mention that most feral werewolves didn't make it to the point where human reasoning prevailed over instinct; he had grown up among a pack, and had complete control over himself by the time he left, but he heard the stories. In the worst cases, the pain of transformation and the rage and fear it provoked led the newly turned to attack anyone nearby. Sometimes rooting through garbage cans for leftover meat and bones brought werewolves too close to humans, and violence broke out swiftly if one seemed like a potential threat to the other. Sometimes, on an instinct to seek out pack, they would seek out friends or family members, who wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a werewolf looking for affection, and one looking to kill…  
Jerome shuddered, continuing to reassure Mitch as he tried to push the worst-case scenarios from his mind. He trusted his friends. They wouldn't put a silver bullet in him or Mitch. And besides, they didn't have to know a thing. He'd have to get out of the house a little earlier, just to distance Mitch from the familiar sounds and smells so he wouldn't try to go back inside. Maybe that would look a little bit suspicious. But still, if he was really careful, he could still pull it off. Maybe he could get Mitch out the window. Jerome had mostly avoided that exit because leaving the window open would change the room's temperature, risking waking Mitch up; but that wasn't a problem any longer, was it. Yeah, he could try the window. What could go wrong?  
…  
They got back to the house a little while before sunrise. Mitch watched Jerome transform back in fascinated horror, and Jerome saw Mitch wince as he imagined what he'd have to go through every full moon. "It hurts less when you're used to it." Jerome explained as he finished. They snuck inside, careful not to let the door creak too much. Jerome had been caught coming back inside a few times before; he already had an excuse all ready to go (he'd woken up early and gone out for a jog, he didn't want to wake anybody up, sorry for worrying them by disappearing like that) but nobody else seemed to be up.  
Jerome checked the list by the door; his turn to make breakfast. He looked back at Mitch. "You didn't sleep much in the cave. Do you want to go back to bed for a bit? I should have everything ready in a half hour or so."  
"Nah. No point in going back to bed if I have to get back again so soon. I'll help make breakfast."  
And so they made breakfast. Mitch insisted on pancakes, and Jerome pretended not to notice him pouring an entire bag of chocolate chips into the batter. He'd just set out some extra fruit to make the breakfast look "healthy". As Jerome was slicing strawberries and Mitch was cooking the pancakes, Sky walked in.  
Jerome looked up with a smile. "Sky! How… are you…" His eyes drifted to Sky's shoulder, and the blood soaking through his sleeve. Mitch looked up as well, pancakes forgotten. Sky blinked, before looking at his own shoulder, seeming as surprised as they were by the injury.  
Mitch sprinted over, rolling up Sky's sleeve despite his weak protests. It looked like something massive had attacked him, scoring thick, bloody lines in his shoulder. "What the hell happened!?" Mitch yelped.  
Sky winced, opening his mouth as Ty walked in. "Hey, guess who got Seto to go to sleep before 3 a.m-" Ty cut himself off when he saw Sky's shoulder. "Damn. How'd that happen?"  
"...I… got into a fight…"  
"With a rabid bear?"  
"A… a raccoon. I left some butter on my windowsill, and it tried to take it."  
"...Must have been one big, pissed off raccoon."  
"It really wanted my butter."  
Ty sighed, grabbing some bandages from a cabinet and walking over. "Mitch, can you get something to clean the wound? Thank you. Sky, is that a bite or a scratch? The damn thing must have had rabies or something, if it put up such a fight."  
Sky shook his head as Mitch handed Ty disinfectant. "I'm not stupid, Ty. I never let anything's mouth too close to me when I fight it."  
"Sure you aren't stupid…" Ty muttered as he disinfected the wound, giving it a little kiss before he wrapped bandages tightly over it. "That's going to leave a scar."  
Sky shrugged. His body was already littered with scars- he claimed they were from fighting squids- and he didn't seem to mind one more. Everyone else was clearly much more concerned, but Sky managed to reassure them that he was fine.  
More members of Team Crafted filtered into the kitchen. They gasped over Sky’s shoulder, expressed various levels of disgust and delight at Mitch’s pancakes, laughed and joked around the table. It was hard for Jerome to tear himself away. But he had to; after all, he needed to plan. He couldn’t risk anything going wrong tonight.  
He dragged Mitch into their room shortly before dinner that night, hoping to catch him up on the plan. “Okay. So, I’ve got some bones, some fish, some dog toys you can put peanut butter into if that’ll convince you to stay in the cave. I’ll bring those over before the sun sets, along with a change of clothes, since you’re not experienced enough not to ruin your clothes while shifting. Getting you to the cave might be difficult, so we’re going to leave a bit early to try and get closer before you start shifting.”  
Mitch was looking a bit more nervous than he did last night. “You think we’re going to make it?”  
“We should at least get into the woods. Worst case scenario, I’m willing to literally throw you into the forest if it’ll keep you from being seen.”  
“Alright…”  
…  
Jerome finished arranging a pile of things that smelled like Mitch near the cave’s entrance. Hopefully, that should make him more willing to come inside once they were nearby. He looked at the sun, sinking low in a sky that was turning orange. He should get home soon…  
He didn’t feel any need to move particularly quickly. He could barely feel the moon pulling on him, he had plenty of time. But when he got home, the door to his and Mitch’s room was locked. He paused, jiggling the doorknob. “Mitch?” He heard a pained whimper from inside. The door cracked open. He could see Mitch’s face, and one fuzzy wolf ear.  
Jerome paled, heart sinking. Of course. The transformation started at different times for different people, how could he have forgotten that? It’s been so long since he was in a pack with other werewolves, he didn’t even consider that Mitch would be an early shifter… he pushed the door open, running inside and quickly closing it. As Jerome ran to the window, flinging it open, he saw fur spreading across Mitch’s bitten hand. Mitch grabbed a pillow, using it to muffle a scream as the hand began to quickly and violently warp into the shape of a paw. “Mitch! We have to move now!” Jerome cried out, barely managing to keep from yelling too loud. The last thing he needed was the others coming to see what was wrong. Mitch nodded, running for the window. A tail began to grow as Jerome helped him out. He heard Mitch hitting the grass, and saw him curl up. Jerome followed him out the window, careful not to step on him.  
“Mitch…?” All he got in return was a whimper. The transformation was proceeding quickly, and Mitch seemed entirely unprepared for the pain. He turned to Jerome, and Jerome could watch recognition fade, replaced with raw, animalistic panic. Mitch growled, starting to tear at his hoodie as his arms shifted into front legs. Jerome shook his head, trying to pull the hoodie off without hurting Mitch any more. Jerome managed to wrestle it off of him, but Mitch didn’t look any calmer. He tried to stand with a body somewhere between bipedal and quadrupedal, stumbling for a moment before falling sprawled on the ground. He wiggled in distress and fear as Jerome tried to pick him up. And Mitch howled.  
A werewolf’s howl is extremely loud. A single werewolf howling can reach about 114 decibels; as loud as a entire pack of normal wolves, or a chainsaw. Extremely noticeable when unexpected, drawn out over several seconds (Jerome’s attempts to force Mitch’s muzzle shut were fruitless), and right outside your house.  
Seto looked up from a list of new potion formulas in surprise, Ty’s hand moving nervously to the dagger by his side. Jason nearly fell off the roof in shock, too busy keeping his balance to look for the sound’s source. Ian and Quentin stopped a vigorous argument about what is and isn’t a cake ingredient. Sky stopped what he was doing, listening to the howling and carefully committing every detail of the sound to memory.  
Jerome winced, knowing that any second somebody would come to investigate the source of the howl. He picked up Mitch roughly, throwing him into the woods. He began to shift himself, sprinting into the darkness seconds before the back door opened.  
…  
Ow.  
Everything hurt. He whimpered, struggling to his feet and sniffing.  
The forest was almost overwhelming. So many smells. Some familiar, some he knew already, but so many he didn’t know until now. Everything felt new.  
He struggled to remember where he was before this. Nothing came to mind. He had vague, fuzzy memories; hiding in a room when pain started, pushed out into cold and grass, thrown into a tree.  
He shook vigorously, flinging bits of dirt and grass and ruined scraps of fabric off his coat. He sniffed the air, catching a familiar scent. He followed it eagerly, tail wagging like a windmill.  
His memories were very unclear, but he knew this scent, and he knew the emotions he associated with who it belonged to. Happiness and warmth and teamwork and belonging and closeness and excitement and friend and family and  
“PACK!” Mitch howled, leaping out at Jerome and bowling him over. Jerome snorted, jumping back up to his feet as Mitch jumped into a series of play bows, tail wagging so fast it was a blur. Jerome felt like he had let out a breath he had been holding all day. Thank the gods, Mitch hadn’t turned aggressive from fear.  
Jerome whined and barked. “Follow me.” He insisted. Mitch whined, but followed anyways. As they walked towards the cave, Jerome mused over Mitch’s first word as a werewolf. Pack. It was… a bit of a surprise. But not all that much, to be honest. Jerome hadn’t been part of a proper pack since he left his parents’ pack, and he’d ended up here, with a bunch of humans. But he’d started thinking of them as his pack, and sometimes he nearly slipped up and referred to them as such to their faces. He didn’t think the feeling was mutual, that a single one of his friends thought of him like family. But that was the first thing Mitch had said when seeing him, and the newly turned didn’t have much of a filter. Until they gained more control, what they thought was what they said.  
Jerome watched Mitch run ahead, smelling the cave, with the piles of familiar objects that smelled like them both already.  
Pack.  
...He could get used to that.


	2. Local Emo Falls into Mud Puddle, Becomes Furry

Ty lay on the couch, pretending to take a nap as he listened to the sound of the rain falling on the roof. He was pretty well practiced in pretending to sleep, knowing just how deep to breathe and how still to stay to convince everyone he was unconscious. It’s not like anyone would call him out for sleeping too much, seeing as he stayed up late with Seto so often. Honestly, Ty probably should take more real naps than he does.  
It was just… nice, pretending to sleep. The way everyone was so quiet, careful not to wake him, but would still stay in the room to read or quietly play a game. Ty liked being near his friends. He liked talking to them too, he really did, but sometimes it was just nice to be quiet.   
He felt somebody sitting on the couch next to him, a hand running gently through his hair. He suppressed a grin, silently cheering. Physical affection! Score!  
...He supposed there were easier ways of getting his friends to play with his hair, like, you know, just asking them, but he didn't want to ruin his badass reputation by openly admitting he wanted more affection.   
He heard a sigh, whoever it was leaning back into the couch. "...Mitch and Jerome are getting a lot closer, aren't they." That was Sky's voice. Ty risked cracking an eye open, looking at his best friend. Sky was staring up at the ceiling as he played with Ty's hair. It wasn't entirely uncommon for people to talk to Ty when he was "sleeping" just to get things off their chest, but Sky seemed to be talking to himself just as much, lost in thought. "I mean, I know they've always been really close to each other. But… they're doing more stuff alone together without inviting anyone else. I don't understand the jokes they make with each other anymore. Did they get new in-jokes when I wasn't looking? Something about howling? ...Maybe it's not them, though. Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm just… drifting away and not noticing." Ty heard Sky's voice become a little more choked up. "We… we don't do stuff together as often. I don't want to drift away from my friends. You're all I have, and… and I don't know what I'll do if we stop being friends." Sky fell quiet, and Ty heard only the occasional sniffle as he kept petting his hair.  
Later that day, once the rain let up, Ty invited Sky to go hiking.   
There was a trail practically in their backyard; it was old and poorly maintained, but it was an easy and pretty hike. "Hard to believe we don't do this more often." Ty wondered aloud as he crossed an old bridge over the river.   
"I know, right? I used to love this trail. Haven't been for a while though." Sky responded, hopping over the gaps where planks had rotted away.   
Ty raised an eyebrow, stopping to wait at the end of the bridge. "Really? Why don't you come more often?"  
Sky grinned as he jumped down onto the dirt path, taking Ty's hand. "Because you're never here, and I'd always rather be with you."  
Ty gagged, playfully pushing Sky away. "Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. Stop being so sweet, you're going to kill me." Sky laughed, used to Ty's teasing. Ty smiled. "Seriously, though. I'm glad to come here more often. I'm always happy to spend time with you-" Ty slipped on a patch of mud. He opened his mouth to cry out, a mistake that ended with a mouthful of mud.   
He sputtered, trying to get back up as he spit out the mud. He hardly noticed the rain-filled canine footprints he had squashed. Sky scrambled over, helping him up. "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah. I think I swallowed some of that mud, though…"   
Sky made a face. "Gross. You wanna head back home now?"  
Ty looked over himself, and his clothes soaked with cold mud. "Yeah, I should get into some clean clothes." They started walking back home, the taste of muddy rainwater stuck in Ty's mouth.  
…  
Ty didn't notice anything was wrong for a long time. How could he? As far as he could tell, the only consequence of that day was a mouthful of mud. He spent more time with Sky, and warned the others that Sky was feeling lonely. Sky seemed to be cheering up again, thankfully, though neither of them was sure what was up with Mitch and Jerome.   
Yes, everything seemed fine… until the next full moon.  
It wasn’t like he had any idea what was going to happen. He’d just been feeling a little… off, all day. A little sick. A little irritable. A little hungry. Nothing to be worried about, maybe he was just coming down with something. That's how he dismissed it in the morning.  
But as the day dragged on, the feeling of something being wrong grew more intense. He was going to go help Seto try some new spells tonight, but he felt horrible. He hid in his room when he had planned to go to their library, curled up on his bed as the sun began to set.  
Moonlight began to filter into the room. Ty frowned. Something was wrong with his face. His nose and mouth were pushing outwards and… turning orange…? He brought a hand to his face, feeling fur. He half screamed, half barked, falling off the bed. He felt something pushing out from the base of his spine. He grabbed it, pulling it into view, and saw a bushy tail.   
Ty dropped it, watching his hands shifting into paws. This… this couldn't be real. It just couldn't be. This had to be some kind of nightmare. It hurt, but the pain barely registered through the shock.   
It was getting hard to think clearly. He… he was scared. Something was wrong. He could feel himself shrinking a little; and he started trying to squirm out of the fabric around him. He shook, fur fluffing up as his ears lengthened and moved to the top of his head. He could hear so much more now, but it hardly seemed remarkable to him. He wasn't amazed by how much he could hear, he was focused on the footsteps approaching.   
Ty darted under the closest of the two beds; a tight fit, but he managed. He heard a knock on the door. "Ty? It's me, Seto… I think I've improved the magical symbols needed for that spell I've been trying, I would really appreciate it if you could double-check my math… Ty? Are you there?" Ty sniffed, scooting a little closer to the sound. He could no longer understand the words, but somewhere deep down, he knew that voice.  
Seto pushed the door open. He looked around the room he and Ty shared. "...Huh. I could have sworn he said he was going to be home tonight. Weird." Seto sat down on his own bed with a sigh. Ty scooted even closer, face sticking out from under the bed. Seto froze, staring.  
"...Oh my gods. Ty has a pet fox!?" Seto's face split into a grin. The noise he made startled Ty, and Seto made a small sound of dismay as Ty disappeared back under the bed. "Oh, no, I scared it…"   
Ty watched warily as Seto made quiet little coaxing sounds, trying to convince him to come out. Slowly, he crept out, watching the sorcerer. Seto smiled, making sure to give him plenty of space even as Ty started to approach. Seto slowly, gently extended a hand.   
Ty sniffed curiously. He pushed his head into Seto's hand, licking his palm. Ty's tail started wagging as Seto scratched his ears. Seto tilted his head. "Huh… most tamed foxes don't do that… you're domesticated, aren't you?"   
Ty jumped up onto the bed, almost knocking Seto over as he silently demanded more scratches. Seto laughed. "Oh, you're a big boy! Be gentle, please, you're a bit too heavy to be a lapdog…" Ty panted in delight as Seto kept petting him and cooing about what a good boy he was.   
"Right there! Right there please!" Ty yelped as Seto found an itchy spot behind his ears. He didn't yet have the skill to shift his throat back into something suitable for human words, but Seto got the message.   
With a yawn, Seto lay down. Ty lay down on top of him, paws and muzzle stretched over Seto's chest to achieve the optimal position for pets. Ty closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep as Seto scratched his ears.  
…  
Ty woke up to the sunlight filtering into the room. He yawned, feeling the rise and fall of Seto's chest under his head, and listening to the quiet snoring. He was cold. Weird, he was wearing pretty warm clothes last night- Ty's eyes snapped open as he remembered what happened last night.   
Seto's arm was resting across his neck, hand still next to his ear. Ty wriggled out slowly and carefully, praying that Seto wouldn't wake up. He scrambled back to the clothes lying on his floor, pulling them back on.   
He sat down with a sigh, running his hand through his hair. What… what exactly happened? His memories were blurry, but... He heard Seto stir, sitting up and blinking sleepily. "Ty…?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Where… where did your fox go?"  
"My fox?" Seto frowned.  
"The fox in our room last night? It was really friendly and tame, I can't imagine it was wild."  
"Oh, yeah," Ty said, making everything up as he spoke. "I think it's one of those domesticated foxes that ended up abandoned? I don't think it can hunt too well on it's own, so I've been feeding it. It's friendly, likes to hop inside the house when I'm not looking."  
"Huh. Yeah, I figured it was used to people, it was so happy to see me."  
Ty sighed. "I'm sure it was…"  
…  
If anybody noticed how tense and nervous Ty was, they didn't say anything. He didn't know what to do. He was a… well, not a werewolf. A werefox. He didn't know that was a thing, but apparently it was.   
He wasn't worried about being dangerous. If he now had some monstrous, bestial side that wanted nothing more than to murder and devour anyone he came across… well, he had the chance last night and opted for a pat on the head instead.  
The problem of being killed, on the other hand… well, he wasn't particularly worried about that either. His friends were impulsive, but violence was never their first instinct. Worst case scenario, they would panic and accidentally kick him while trying to keep him away. And that was bad, definitely, but Ty could take the hit.   
He was more worried about the social consequences. If his friends designated him as a monster, he didn't know where he would go. He'd lived with his friends for years, and he wasn't at all prepared to move out. He had money saved up, of course; though his fears had faded over time, he was always prepared for something to go wrong.   
He… He had taken some money from that emergency fund when it seemed less necessary, paying for meals and games and presents for the others when it was unthinkable that he would actually need the money. But he always put more back in. He had enough to maybe stay in a halfway-decent motel for a few days if he needed to… and no plans at all for what he would do next.  
The safest course was to keep it all a secret. But Ty was terrible at keeping secrets, and he didn't want to keep one he didn't need to. He needed some way to test the waters and gauge how the others would react.   
He found an opportunity while walking with Sky. They were making small talk, asking each other random questions. It was easy for Ty to slip in something related to his current situation.   
"So, uh… if, hypothetically, you turned into a werewolf, or a weresnake, or a werecat, or like, a werefox- anything you can put 'were' in front of- and the rest of us found out, what would you want us to do?" There. That was a good way to phrase things. It didn't stand out suspiciously against the other questions being tossed back and forth. Sky tended to act as a leader when the others felt uncertain, so his judgment would be the best for Ty to know. And Sky was always so honest! Sure, what people said they would do and what they did were often different, and people were usually kinder towards themselves, but this would be a good-  
“Oh, I’d want you to kill me on sight.”  
Ty stumbled. He hadn’t been expecting that. “W-What?” He asked, hoping that the stutter would be mistaken for just surprise and not fear.  
“Well, think about it. If I got bit by something, I’d keep myself locked up. If you actually see me, then something went horribly wrong and you’d need to take me out before I could hurt someone.”  
“Well… what if you weren’t attacking anyone…”  
“You can’t afford to take the risk. Weres are dangerous, Ty. I’ve seen what they can do when the beast takes control. They’re vicious and deadly; hell, sometimes they even end up with their human mind corrupted. Anybody who’s infected has to have the common sense to keep the monster chained up so it can’t hurt anybody, and if they can’t or won’t restrain the monster enough to keep it out of human sight, then they deserve to die. You have to promise me, Ty, if you ever find me turned into a were, you won’t hesitate to put me down.” Sky's voice had gone tense. This wasn't just musing on a random hypothetical anymore, this was serious to him. He had grabbed Ty’s shoulders so hard it was starting to hurt, staring at him with pure desperation in his eyes as he waited for an answer.  
“I...okay.” Ty said, stunned. Immediately, Sky let go.  
“Sorry if I got a little intense there. I’ve got strong feelings on the subject.” Sky laughed. He asked another question, something that had nothing to do with the conversation they had just had. Ty answered, and they continued tossing random questions back and forth as if nothing had happened. If Ty was quieter than usual, then Sky didn’t notice.  
…  
Ty was more prepared for the full moon this night. Not much better prepared, mind you; but at least he was getting outside. He told Seto that he was sorry, he couldn’t help him tonight, he had somewhere to be, and he dodged questions about what exactly that was. It was pretty suspicious, but what other choice did he have?   
He considered caging himself, like Sky had said, but he didn’t think he could do that. He couldn’t shake the sense of guilt over not containing himself, but he didn’t exactly have a cage large enough on such short notice. The best he could do was go into the forest, and hope he could find his way back home in the morning.   
As the sun set, he snuck out the window. If last night was any indication, he still had a few minutes left before he started shifting. He was about to run to the woods when he heard footsteps and quiet talking. He ducked behind a tree, hearing Mitch and Jerome talking quietly. “Careful, I can see your legs shifting. You have to move faster.”  
“Well, sorry not all of us are great with dealing with the pain…” Mitch growled, letting out small gasps of agony.   
“Come on, I can carry you for a little while at least.” One word was stuck in Ty’s mind; shifting. Was Mitch… was Mitch also a were? When did that happen? Jerome knew, was Jerome a were too? Should Ty confront them? He happened to glance upwards while considering all this, and saw Jason perched in the branches above.   
Ty yelped in surprise, stumbling out from below the tree. He fell to the ground, feeling himself start to shift as Jerome and Mitch looked over in his direction. Jason dropped down from the tree, staring wide-eyed.   
Ty winced. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what, and it was getting harder to think straight. He let out a whine as his face shifted into a muzzle. Mitch, who seemed to be almost fully shifted as this point, yelped, struggling to reach Ty as Jerome held him back.   
Jason was paralyzed. He looked up at Jerome, who was starting to change shape as well. “...Follow me and I’ll explain everything. Well. Most of everything. I honestly don’t know what’s up with Ty.” Jerome said. Jason nodded, numb. Jerome finished shifting quickly and seemingly painlessly, walking off into the woods. Mitch glanced back at Jason, tail wagging before he followed Jerome. Jason looked back down at Ty, who had finished transforming at this point. He was just lying there, stunned and shaken from pain.   
Not really thinking about it, Jason crouched down and picked Ty up. Ty whimpered, but didn’t struggle, just snuggling closer against Jason. Jason sighed, his head swimming with questions. He walked into the forest, holding Ty tightly and not looking back as the trees swallowed them both.


	3. Jason is sad bc he's not a furry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is a little short! I promise the next chapter will be longer.

That night, Jerome explained the best he could to Jason and Ty. Mitch constantly interjected with his own commentary, but only Ty could make any sense of the interrupting barks. The basics were explained; Jerome had been a werewolf since he was a child, he accidentally infected Mitch last month, and they opted to spend their full moons in the forest (Jerome was horrified when Ty mentioned cages; not only was it difficult to find a cage good enough to hold a determined werewolf, the added fear and stress of confinement only made violent outbursts against nearby humans more likely). Jerome was able to translate Ty’s story to Jason- Ty had fallen, accidentally ingesting fresh rainwater from a fox’s footprint. Jason told them how he had been watching the forest more than the stars lately, looking for wolves after the howl he heard last month.  
“So… how does this all work, exactly? Do I have to become a werewolf now, since I know your secret?” Jason asked, sitting on the cave floor and absentmindedly petting Ty.   
Jerome tilted his head. “Not unless you want to.”  
“...Yeah, I think I’m good, thank you. I’m not a furry.”  
“We… we aren’t furries, that’s not how this works-” Ty quietly barked something, looking as smug as a fox could. Jerome glared. “...You know, there are so many things that you can say and make other people aware of. Did this have to be one of them, Ty? Did you have to make me think about this?” Another bark. “If you’re right, that would imply you’re a furry too.” Ty paused before whining quietly, hiding behind Jason. Jerome snorted. “Too late for that. Thanks a lot, Ty.”  
Jason tilted his head. “So how come you can talk but Mitch and Ty can’t?”  
“Oh, we all can talk, technically. I’m just the only one practiced enough to shift myself at will, and that can include just bits and pieces, like messing with my throat and tongue enough to speak English. That, and I actually retain all of my memories between forms, instead of just fuzzy impressions about who I care about and why.”  
"Huh." Jason muttered as Ty curled up against him. “What do you even do all full moon?”  
“I like fishing, Mitch likes to just run around. I’m not sure what Ty’s going to like; can you just hang out with him tonight, see what he wants to do?”  
“Sure.”  
Jason sighed as Jerome and Mitch left. He continued petting Ty, the werefox making small, happy noises. "Do you want to do something other than just sit here?" Jason questioned. Ty responded by tilting his head so that Jason could better reach an itchy spot. "Guess we'll stay, then." Jason muttered, curling up in a pile of blankets.  
…  
Not telling anyone was torture for Jason. He never liked keeping secrets from his friends, and this was a big one. He didn't know how to speak with the others without blurting out that Jerome and Mitch and Ty were all weres, so he just kept his mouth shut tight.   
"You okay, Jason? You've been really quiet today." Sky asked. They were hanging out in Sky's room; when they all bought a house together and realized they couldn't yet afford to build new rooms, they'd drawn straws to decide who was getting their own room and who was sharing. Sky and Jason had been lucky. Despite only having one person in it, Sky’s room was constantly cluttered, and he was constantly reorganizing everything. Right now, Sky was rummaging through a pile of old weaponry from the war with the squids.   
Jason sighed and flopped down on Sky’s bed. “I’m fine, just… tired.”   
Sky frowned. “Are you sure? You really seem down, I- oh, damn, I forgot I had this sword! Jason, look at this thing!” Jason raised an eyebrow, looking over at Sky and his weapons. Sky was holding a massive sword with a blade coated in silver. Sky ran his hand along the flat of the blade, grinning.  
“Wow.”   
“Yeah. I got this from a werewolf hunter back in my hometown. He taught me everything I know.”  
Jason’s heart skipped a beat in panic. “Not about werewolf hunting, right?”  
Sky thought for a moment. “No,” He said, and Jason briefly calmed before Sky finished the sentence. “I’ve learned stuff about hunting weres from other sources too.”  
“Ah.” Jason said quietly. He tried not to let Sky know anything was wrong, but he felt eyes on him when he left the room a little too quickly.  
…  
“Do you think Sky is a werewolf hunter?” Jason asked.  
Mitch and Jerome glanced at each other. Ty sighed, leaning back in his chair. “...That was a real nasty wound on his shoulder. He fought something strong, and I doubt it was a raccoon.”   
Jerome sighed. “We can’t really prove anything. Sure, he’s a little distrustful of weres, and he’s a little mysterious about why nobody ever sees him on full moons, and he does own a silver sword given to him by a werewolf hunter who he remembers as a valuable mentor…”  
Mitch tilted his head. “I don’t think Sky wants to hurt us, even if he is a hunter. Let’s just give him the benefit of the doubt, okay?”  
…  
There was howling the next night. Jason wasn’t sure how it started; Jerome and Mitch had left again, leaving him with Ty. Jason heard a howl in the distance, followed by a second howl. Ty perked up, responding with a sound like a howl, but honestly more reminiscent of a scream. Awkwardly, Jason tried to join in. “Awooo….” The sound was hesitant, wobbly and quiet. He stopped after a few seconds, feeling embarrassed. Ty glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, but didn’t stop the scream-howl. The chorus continued for several more seconds, but Jason was silent.  
…  
“Jerome?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Can you bite me?”  
Jerome frowned. They had just gotten back from the forest; Mitch was off taking a nap, while Ty was double-checking that they hadn’t left any obvious footprints between the cave and the house, leaving only Jerome and Jason in the kitchen. “...Yeah, I guess I could, but why?”  
“Well, so I can become a werewolf, obviously.”  
“You said earlier that you didn’t want that. Why change your mind now?” Jason was silent. Jerome sighed. “Jason… let me tell you how I became a werewolf. My mom was a werewolf, but lycanthropy can only be passed down when both parents are weres, and my dad was human. Back home, about half the village was considered part of the pack, and would all meet up on full moons. Not everyone in the pack was a were. We had a lot of humans who found out but didn’t want to become weres, and we had a lot of kids with one werewolf parent. So I was hardly the only human in the pack, but I still really wanted to be a werewolf. Every pack has really strict rules about turning kids; being a were can have a lot of downsides. You have to be worried about hunters, living in a city or anywhere densely populated is really difficult if you can't handle being inside all full moon, you have to keep secrets from people you care about… you don't want people making a decision to become a were when they're too young to really understand the consequences.   
“No two packs really agree on what the best solution is, and honestly I’m not sure I 100% agree with what my mom’s pack did. They decided that it was up to the parents when a kid wanted to become a werewolf. My parents didn’t really want me to become a werewolf, but I begged and begged for years, and they eventually relented. I did it because I wanted the freedom of shifting. I wanted to run in the forest without stumbling, I wanted to fish with my bare teeth, I wanted to howl as loud as the rest of the pack. I’m happy with the choice I made. But it was something I had to think about and consider the consequences of for years before my parents would let it happen. Being a werewolf has upsides, sure, but it’s dangerous, and I’m sure as hell not going to bite you if you aren’t dead-set on becoming one.”  
“I...I just want to be part of your pack. I don’t like feeling like I’m just on the edges of something important.” Jason said quietly. Jerome was quiet for a moment, before he stood up and hugged Jason tightly.   
“Jason, you don’t need to be bitten to be part of my pack. You’re already part of my pack. You’ve been a part of my pack since I left home and met the team. My friends are my pack, no matter what.”


	4. Just a fun round of Hunger Games and friendly competition, everything is absolutely fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: there's some violence in this chapter (they're playing Hunger Games after all) but there's no blood, very little pain, and no graphic description
> 
> Also, I haven't watched a Hunger Games video in about 4 years? I'm already taking a few obvious creative liberties with how the game works, but forgive me if some strategies don't seem like they'd actually work.

Jerome shifted his weight from foot to foot, ready to leap into action at a moment’s notice. Sky stood beside him, less visibly prepared, but Jerome could feel the tension coiled like a spring in his friend. Jerome glanced around the circle of platforms, sizing up the competition. Jason and Ty stood side by side, quietly whispering to each other. Jason was too short, and Ty too skinny, for either of them to be powerful fighters on their own… but they were smart, and Jerome knew that underestimating them was a mistake. He’d hate to see what they could come up with when working together. Ian and Quentin were standing together, looking calm. Nothing fancy, but the two were both capable fighters who could overwhelm Jerome and Sky if they weren’t careful. Seto and Mitch were working together, an unusual combo. Seto was standing still, probably going over a list of simple offensive and defensive spells in his head, as Mitch danced in place, staring intently at the chests in the center of the ring as if he could will a bow and quiver to appear in one. An unusual combination, but they could both attack from afar, assuming Mitch got that bow, and Seto’s magic could easily turn the tide of a fight if he got a few uninterrupted seconds to cast. A few more pairs of fighters stood in the ring, but Jerome dismissed them after a brief survey of how physically strong they appeared. Having never met them before, he couldn’t judge how much of a threat they were; best to just give a superficial judgement and adjust as needed. A giant clock hovered above the chests, and Jerome watched the seconds slowly ticking down. It hit zero, and a bell rang loudly and clearly, quickly overwhelmed by the sound of people sprinting, either to the chests or away, and the sound of fighting.  
The survival games were familiar to the team. Every single one of them had played the simulation at least once, though Mitch and Jerome spent the most time in the arena. Seto had been the one to suggest that they all sign up for a newer version of the game; they would be split into randomly assigned teams of two, and if one person "died", both would lose, forcing them to work together. There was still only one winner, so they’d have to still fight in the end, but they depended on each other up until that point. A fun team-building exercise, Seto claimed. Jerome didn't know if Seto had somehow noticed the team starting to divide ever so slightly, those who knew Jerome's secret and those who didn't drifting apart just a tiny bit as they tried to hide where they went during full moons. This wasn't sustainable, Jerome knew that. He couldn't keep secrets from some of his friends, and not others, if he wanted them to all stay together. But hopefully, this would patch up the growing wound and buy him some time.  
Jerome felt confident enough to go to the center chests, especially seeing most other teams fleeing. Sky was right by his side. Silently, they agreed; Sky would go through the chests, Jerome would watch his back. Sky found a wooden sword right away, quickly passing it to Jerome; not his favorite weapon, but it'll do. He slashed at someone running towards them, suppressing a flinch of pity; he knew nothing in the simulation hurt more than being hit by a paintball, but it usually took a few hits to remind him that it was all just a game.  
Within seconds, his attacker was nearly defeated. They fled, and Jerome resisted the impulse to give chase. Sky was still looking through chests. "I've got everything useful. Let's go." Sky said, tossing Jerome some armor. They ran from the ring, searching for places to gather more supplies. Sky turned, giving Jerome a wide grin. "I like our chances!" Sky said with an excited laugh.  
The two of them stumbled quickly upon a small cavern. Jerome and Sky gripped their swords tightly as they edged inside. As they walked into the darkness, Jerome let himself shift a little bit. Not anything big or noticeable, especially with the dim lighting; maybe he was a little taller, or a bit hairier, or his stance more digitigrade. His senses heightened, he sniffed the air. He growled quietly, catching a scent, and he bumped Sky’s arm to alert him. He gripped the sword Sky had given him, the strength of the wolf flooding his muscl- oh. Sky had darted forward faster than Jerome could see and quieter than he could hear, sword swinging. He caught the others in the cave by surprise, stabbing the closest one through the neck. They dissolved in a shower of mist, their weapons and armor falling to the floor, and their partner barely able to turn around before they dissolved as well. Sky made as if to wipe blood off the blade, before he remembered that there was no blood in the simulation. Sky looked back to Jerome, giving a thumbs-up. Jerome returned it, unable to shake the uncomfortable feeling that he wouldn’t have had time to react if Sky had stabbed him instead.  
The other team had been searching through a chest hidden in the cave. Jerome walked up to see what was left, while Sky searched through the dropped supplies. There was some bread and potatoes left, as well as a few pieces of leather armor. Not great, but better than nothing. “Sky, what did you find?”  
“Silver arrowhead.”  
Jerome turned around, seeing Sky holding an arrowhead made of silver. Sky tossed it from hand to hand, testing its weight. “Feels like iron coated with silver, instead of pure silver. Even better, it holds a point better, doesn’t break as easily, and I imagine you’re more familiar with the weight of iron! Now we just need to find a good shaft for it…” Sky mused.  
“Lucky find.” Jerome noted. He edged a little bit away from Sky, wary of the casual way he was tossing around the sharp silver object. Silver hurt badly when he was fully shifted; not only was it the only substance capable of inflicting wounds on a werewolf that wouldn’t heal immediately, it burned to the touch, making wounds even more painful and sometimes leaving blisters. Things weren’t nearly as bad in human form, but touching silver was still immensely painful.  
Sky shrugged, tucking the arrowhead in a pocket. “I guess? It’s not the best find; we’re still going to have to find a shaft before it’s any use, and even then it's just one arrow. Oh, and we have to find a bow! Still better than nothing, though.” Jerome and Sky stayed in the cave for a little while, reorganizing their supplies and coming up with strategies. But they couldn’t afford to stay for long, so they quickly set out again for better equipment and maybe a few more kills before more people were fully equipped and the fighting got too intense.  
They walked alongside the river running through the map, hoping to find a promising-looking hiding place for loot. As they walked, Sky held out an arm, stopping Jerome and shushing him when Jerome tried to ask what was wrong. Sky silently pointed ahead. Jerome could see Ian standing there, back to them, completely alone. Jerome frowned. Ian wasn’t an idiot. Why would he be all alone, when the whole point of this game was working together with your partner to make sure you didn’t die?  
Sky grinned, eyes sparkling with excitement. Taking Ian out this early in the game, before he could grow too strong, would be a huge advantage, in addition to Ian and Quentin’s huge mistake of splitting up being something for them to all laugh about after the game. He nudged Jerome, starting to creep forward. Jerome rolled his eyes, following. Sky was surprisingly quiet, footsteps light and quick over the sand of the river bank. Jerome, being louder, followed further behind; far away enough so that his noise wouldn’t alert Ian before Sky was in striking range, but close enough that he could jump in if Ian didn’t die quickly enough.  
Ian didn’t seem to notice Sky. He was standing still, muttering quietly to himself, seemingly lost in thought as he counted supplies and measured what he and Quentin could make. Sky dug in his pockets for something sharp that wouldn’t make too much noise to draw. He found the arrowhead, considered for a moment, and shrugged. Yeah, he could work with this. He raised it like a dagger, high above his head, and Quentin burst out of the river and tackled him.  
Sky let out a cry of surprise, that quickly turned to delighted laughter as Quentin started trying to stab him with an wooden hoe. “Quentin! I didn’t see that coming at all! How long were you holding your breath down there?”  
Quentin grinned, ducking so that Ian could jump over him and Sky, drawing a stone sword to face Jerome. “We only found one good weapon, so Ian suggested I hide in the river, so he could serve as bait. And I thought I was going to drown down there, if you were any slower picking something to stab Ian with!” Sky smiled, throwing Quentin off him and rolling to his feet, but not before Quentin got the hoe through his gut. The wound closed instantly and painlessly; Sky could feel that he could take quite a few more hits like that before he was out of the game.  
“Excuse me, stabbing is a fine art and I needed to choose my weapon carefully.” Sky said, pressing a hand to his chest as if mortally offended. Quentin snorted in amusement, lunging again. He and Sky wove around each other in a careful dance, half careless playfulness, half strategic ferocity. Sky’s arrowhead was stronger and sharper, but it wasn’t exactly made to be used like a knife. Quentin’s wooden hoe was duller and more easily broken, but he had enough reach to keep Sky from getting close enough to use his weapon effectively. It was hard to track who was winning, with every cut or stab wound instantly and painlessly healing, so they were bluffing each other with how much more they could take before retreating as well.  
Things seemed a little less evenly matched with Jerome and Ian. Ian had a stone sword, while Jerome just had one made of wood. Jerome jumped back from Ian’s swing; his armor was a little better than Ian’s, but Ian’s sword would still do too much damage compared to his own. He wasn’t likely to win this with swordfighting alone. Jerome charged forward and grabbed Ian, lifting him above the ground and suplexing him. Ian was stunned for a moment as Jerome backed away. “Sky! Can you finish this quickly?” Jerome called. Sky glanced over for a second, nodding.  
Sky quickly abandoned the careful back-and-forth he had been fighting with, opting to just charge right at Quentin. Startled, Quentin held out the hoe to impale Sky, but Sky didn’t seem to notice as he stabbed the arrowhead through Quentin’s neck. Sky pulled it back out, slashing furiously. Within seconds, Quentin was dissolving into mist, along with Ian. Sky stepped back, taking a deep breath as he wrenched the hoe out of his gut. He considered it for a moment, before breaking off the head. He broke the handle in half over his knee. He grinned, turning back to Jerome and holding up the sticks. “Think this’ll work for the arrow shaft?”  
Jerome nodded. “That was crazy, Sky. Where’d you learn to fight like that?”  
Sky shrugged, blushing. “I didn’t really. I just forgot what I was doing and wanted to end the fight quick when I saw you were struggling with Ian. That was kinda stupid of me, though I guessed wild flailing worked out this time.”  
“You should be more confident. You’re pretty strong.”  
“Thanks. Strength is still no excuse for being sloppy.” Sky said with a smile. Jerome snorted, rolling his eyes. Maybe they’d talk about this later, but it wasn’t worth turning the conversation into an argument now.  
They stuck to the river for a while longer; they found a crafting table, and Sky was able to put together his arrow. They didn’t find any new equipment, but eventually, they saw another team in the distance. Jerome paled a little. “They’ve got a diamond sword.”  
“What!? The game’s barely started, almost everyone else just has wood and stone!”  
“Really lucky finds, I bet.” Jerome looked over their equipment; leather armor and stone weapons, not counting Sky’s arrow. Jerome bit his lip in worry. He liked a good fight, and a slight disadvantage only made the challenge more exciting, but this was too much. “Let’s retreat before they notice us.”  
“Yeah, good plan.” Sky and Jerome broke away from the river, looking for someplace to hide. They found a fake village, small but with plenty of places to hide. This was good. There was probably a good amount of chests here, and maybe a few other players to have a more-evenly matched fight with. Jerome was about to duck into one of the houses and check it out, when an arrow lodged in his shoulder. He whirled around, trying to see where the arrow had come from. He saw movement on a nearby roof; he couldn’t see too well, with the sun in his eyes, but it looked like someone drawing their bow to shoot again. He grabbed Sky, rolling out of the way as another arrow thudded into the wall behind them. As soon as Jerome let go of him, Sky sprinted towards the house the archer was on top of, path erratic and unpredictable. Jerome got the idea, following with an equally uneven path. Two moving targets, both running in hard-to-predict patterns while closing in on the archer’s location. Sky and Jerome charged inside the house. Being as simplistic as possible for the sake of the simulation, there was nothing but a chest and a set of stairs. Ignoring the chest completely, Sky sprinted up the stairs. By the time Jerome had followed him up, Sky was already pulling himself out the window and onto a short ladder to the roof. Jerome followed, watching as the archer jumped to another roof before Sky could hit him. They jumped further than Jerome was expecting; an enchantment, maybe? Jerome watched the archer stumble as they landed, grabbing on to thin air and regaining their balance. The archer looked back, and Jerome recognized Mitch. Mitch grinned, waving at his friends.  
Sky waved back happily. “Hi, Mitch! I’m going to need that bow!” Mitch laughed in response, placing another arrow in his bow and shooting at Sky before jumping to another roof. Again, Mitch nearly lost his balance, but stabilized by grabbing onto the air. Jerome was pretty sure what was going on now; Seto was right by Mitch’s side, and Mitch was recovering his balance by clinging to Seto. Seto had cast an invisibility spell on himself, and enchanted his and Mitch’s boots; none of which was technically cheating, but certainly gave them a significant advantage. With Mitch’s enhanced mobility, he could more easily keep a good distance and shoot at enemies from afar, while Seto’s invisibility made the physically fragile sorcerer harder to hit. Not a bad strategy, especially against opponents with no ranged weapons of their own.  
Jerome looked around the village, considering the closeness of the houses. They were designed to be used as platforms, and it was entirely possible to jump from one roof to another with a normal jumping distance. The enchantment just made it a lot easier and quicker, and that made chasing Mitch a poor strategy. But if they split up… Sky grinned up at Jerome, seeing excitement on his face. “You’ve got a plan?”  
“You go right, I’ll go left. Mitch can’t shoot at both of us at once, and if we’re smart about this, we’ll be able to corner him a lot more easily when there’s two of us to avoid.” Sky nodded eagerly, running and jumping onto another roof. Jerome did the same. Neither of them paused once they were on the roof, immediately going for another house. Mitch’s eyes widened when he realized what they were doing. Immediately, he put his bow down and started looking for a way out. He was talking to Seto now, too quietly for Jerome and Sky to hear clearly. After a few seconds, Mitch nodded, then took off, sprinting across the rooftops as if flying.  
Jerome and Sky started to move faster. The goal was either to make Mitch unable to flee, or force him to the ground; either way, Mitch’s tactical advantage would be gone. A growl escaped Jerome’s mouth (he was glad Sky was now too far away to hear) as he sped up, hoping to circle around and catch Mitch. Sky slowed a bit, letting Mitch run ahead of him so that he could follow in a way that coordinated with Sky. Together, they drove Mitch towards the edge of the village, giving him fewer and fewer options to run to. Within minutes, Mitch stood on a lonely roof at the end of the village, Sky and Jerome standing on the only two nearby houses. Mitch’s eyes darted between them as he backed away, starting to sweat. Jerome smiled. He jumped forward onto the roof Mitch stood on, slashing Mitch across the chest and pushing him off the roof. “That was fun! I-” Mitch called, before being cut off as he hit the ground and dissolved into mist. On the roof, another cloud of mist revealed Seto’s location as his items dropped to the ground. As Jerome picked that up, Sky jumped down to the ground to get Mitch’s stuff. He smiled as he grabbed the bow, and a few handfuls of arrows.  
There were a few untouched chests left in the village, and thanks to a spot of good timing and luck, new supplies spawned while Jerome and Sky were still in the village; they got better armor, good food, Sky found an iron sword, and Jerome managed to get Betty. They were both in a pretty good mood after that. As they left the village, Jerome checked how many people were left in the games. He raised an eyebrow. “Oh, wow. We’re one of only three teams left.”  
“Woah. We’re doing a lot better than I thought we were!”  
“Yeah, there’s only Ty and Jason, and then there’s two people I don’t know.”  
“Think it’s the people with the diamond sword earlier?”  
“Yeah, but I don’t doubt that we can take them now.” As they walked, Jerome and Sky were entering a small forest. Calling it a forest was extremely generous; the trees were spaced too far apart for Jerome’s taste. But it was still more than enough to conceal the tripwire strung across the path. Jerome’s eyes widened when he felt the tripwire under his feet, and heard the hiss of TNT. The resulting explosion threw him and Sky aside- he could feel his hearts dropping, not enough to kill him but a significant loss- and a cloud of dirt and dust was kicked up. Jerome saw movement in the cloud; it was hard to discern, but just visible enough that he was able to fling himself and Sky out of the way as Ty jumped out of the dust cloud, slamming a sword down where Jerome’s head had been seconds ago. As Jerome stood to face Ty, he felt a dagger in his back. He heard Sky cry out, the dagger being pulled from his back as Sky kicked Jason back, swinging his sword at him. Sky and Jerome stood back to back, Ty and Jason circling them for a weak point. “How many hearts left?” Sky whispered to Jerome.  
“Three.”  
“Damn.”  
“I know, it’s not looking good.”  
Sky grit his teeth. “Well, let’s not let them know that. ...I think we can win, if we’re really careful.”  
“Really?”  
“Well, running isn’t really an option.” Ty lunged at Jerome as Sky said that. Jerome yelped, knocking Ty away with Betty. Sky turned to look, and Jason charged, dagger pointed right for Sky’s neck. Sky, however, wasn’t as distracted as he seemed. He drew his sword at the last second, and Jason ran right onto the point. Sky pushed Jason away, likely taking another few hearts from him in the process, before slashing at him again and again. Ty scrambled over to defend Jason, but Jerome blocked him. Sky and Jerome moved in sync; slashing at Ty and Jason, defending each other when the other team tried to retaliate. The element of surprise was key to Ty and Jason’s strategy; without it? They were no match. Ty seemed to realize that. He glanced at Jason, who sighed and nodded. Ty looked at Jerome, standing perfectly still as Betty was swung right at his head.  
Ty dissolved into mist. Jerome and Sky took a moment to breathe, watching the mist spread and slowly dissipate on the forest floor. Sky tore through a potato they had found earlier, watching his hearts slowly replenish out of the corner of his eye. “One more team?” He asked.  
“One more team.” Jerome confirmed.  
Sky shrugged, picking up Ty and Jason’s stuff. The two had collected a variety of seemingly useless stuff, to put together traps and devices. Admittedly, neither Sky nor Jerome had the same level of interest or competency with setting up traps, and it wasn’t much use with so little time left in the game anyways. But Ty and Jason still had some useful stuff, namely a few more bundles of arrows and a few better quality pieces of armor. “Alright! Let’s go win this thing!” Sky said cheerfully.  
Tracking down the last remaining team wasn’t difficult. Sky was the first to see them. He stopped, pulling out his bow. Jerome blinked. “You’re not using the silver arrow?”  
“Nah, it’s the most powerful one I have. I’m waiting for the right moment.”  
Jerome didn’t see what the right moment could be, if not now, but he just shrugged. It wasn’t important. Sky drew an arrow, aiming carefully, and shot. His aim was perfect. It caught one of the opposing team members in the neck. As they charged, Sky didn’t flinch. They were far enough away that he could shoot two more arrows, completely unphased by the rapidly approaching enemies. It was only when they were mere feet away that he jumped back and exchanged the bow for a sword. They both attacked him at the same time. Sky held up his sword, blocking one of the attacks but leaving an opening for the other to slice him across the gut. Jerome grabbed one of the attackers, tossing them away. He sliced at the other with Betty, burying the blade in their ribs.  
Sky swung his sword, slicing his opponent’s neck. They stumbled back, trying to run. Sky brought out his bow again, taking aim; a single arrow was all it took to make them finally collapse into mist. Jerome sighed, relaxing his shoulders as he put Betty away. “Well, that was fun. Congrat-”  
Jerome froze. Sky was pointing the bow at him now, and he had notched the silver arrow. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, but Jerome couldn’t move. His eyes were fixed on Sky’s eyes; he didn’t look like he was joking or teasing Jerome. There was no trace of a grin on Sky’s face, just determined focus. Sky released the arrow.  
The silver was simulated, just points of light and color as the machines surrounding Jerome applied gentle pressure to his neck where the arrow hit, but he swore he could feel it burn like the real thing. Jerome was motionless, stunned as he fell to the ground. Sky stood over him, putting away the bow and replacing with a sword. He looked down at Jerome, and in one smooth motion, plunged the sword into his heart. Everything went dark.  
With a gasp, Jerome pulled the headset away from his eyes. In the dimly lit room, he saw the mechanical arm poking his chest slowly retracting, having successfully communicated the sword’s hit to the game’s satisfaction. Not painful, but certainly not a very gentle tap. Jerome had to take a moment to breathe. He noticed he was shaking; he’d have to get that under control before he left the room. He’d… he’d forgotten that teammates had to fight each other at the end.  
He’d died a million times in this game before, of course. It wasn’t exactly rare for those deaths to be at his friend’s hands. It was simple mathematics; you put a dozen or two players in a game with only one winner, you’re not going to always survive to the end. Get up and try again next time. But it felt different today.  
He couldn’t help but imagine what it would have been like if it was real. If Sky found out what he was, and hated him for it. What if the silver was real? What if Sky had been out to kill him, not just win a game? What if it wasn’t something where Jerome could get back up and they could laugh about it afterwards?  
He was still in a bit of a daze as he left the booth, walking into a room where they could all chat after dying. People were cheering, seeing Sky’s name projected on a screen hanging on the wall. Sky was stepping out of his booth now, people coming to congratulate him. Sky saw Jerome across the room, and he grinned, walking through the crowd to him. He playfully punched Jerome on the arm. “You went easy on me!”  
“Y-Yeah, I guess I did.”  
Sky snorted in amusement, taking Jerome’s hand. The rest of the team was walking towards them, ready to go home. “You didn’t have to do that, you know. I can fight!”  
“I know you can, Sky. I know.”


	5. Seto and Ty both make horrible mistakes

Ty glanced at his calendar, double-checking the moon’s phase. Just a few days before the full moon, he wasn’t in danger of turning if he went to go help Seto tonight. He’d made quite a bit of progress recently with getting Seto to go to sleep at a reasonable time, but he still felt compelled to check on him every now and then. Seto was working on potions tonight, if he remembered correctly; best to watch him for sleep-deprived mistakes before he poisoned himself.  
Ty yawned, stretching. Seto had gone straight to the library to start working after dinner; now seemed like a good time to check in and see how he was doing. He left his room, walking quickly towards the library. It was the largest room in the house, and not actually originally part of it; they had built it onto the rest of the house a year or two after moving in. It was divided roughly into quarters, the contents of each section spilling into each other around the edges. There was an actual library-like section, filled with bookshelves packed with books that they always said they would get around to organizing, but never did. There was a place just for storage, covered in things that they couldn’t or wouldn’t get rid of, but didn’t have the space for anywhere else. There was an area full of chairs and blankets- Ty’s personal favorite section- intended for a comfortable place to read, but also just generally used to hang out. Finally, there was Seto’s lab, cluttered with potion stands and spellbooks and bundles of reagents.   
Seto was standing at a potion stand, holding a glossy black feather over a potion. He had his tongue sticking slightly out in concentration as he slowly lowered the feather in with a pair of tongs, watching the liquid cling to and swallow it. Ty grinned, sneaking up. “Hey.” Seto yelped, dropping the feather all the way into the potion.   
“Ty! Don’t scare me like that…” Ty chuckled, hugging Seto.  
“Sorry. Hope I didn’t ruin your potion.” Ty said, smiling. He knew he hadn’t; he would have waited if it looked like Seto was in the middle of something that needed serious attention to detail.  
Seto rolled his eyes. “I was supposed to put the feather in slowly. Ah, well, I’ll find out if that has any effect later.”   
“What are you working on?”  
“Oh, I’m making a transformation potion. Well, I’m trying, anyways. They aren’t easy to make, and I maaay be modifying the standard formula by just a tiny bit…”  
“Hm. Sure this one isn’t too dangerous to mess with? I don’t want you blowing yourself up.”  
“Nah. Transformation potions are difficult, but they’re pretty consistent when they fail. The worst cases I’ve ever heard about, people end up with stomachs lined with fur or feathers, until they vomit it all up.” Seto didn’t seem worried, though Ty cringed at the thought of vomiting fur.  
“Yuck. Still, if you’re making a whole bunch of modifications, maybe the results if you fail will be more dangerous…”  
“I’m using those enchanted potion bottles Sky got me for my birthday, remember? They’ll glow if they detect poison.”  
“Hm. Fair point. Still, just make sure you’re being careful…”  
“Oh, I will. I’m just adding some extra ingredients, changing the time that reactants have to mix together, that kind of stuff. Weaving a few enchantments into the potion, and look! Guess what I got!” Seto pulled out a small vial, labeled “moondust”.  
Ty raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that stuff supposed to be insanely expensive? Being from, you know, the moon? A little hard to access?”  
“Well, this is just quartz dust left exposed to focused moonlight. Maybe the two things aren’t exactly equivalent, but their magical properties should be similar. The moon is associated with change and transformation, so it should be helpful!”  
“Interesting. I hope that works out well!”  
“Thank you! I’m actually going to try this out pretty soon. Should turn me into a bird, for ah… about an hour, if I did everything right?” Seto turned to another vial, filled with some kind of boiling liquid. He put on gloves and carefully removed it, pouring it into the first potion. He shook it slightly, muttering a spell under his breath. He set the bottle carefully onto a tray, and Ty heard the hiss of hot glass meeting cold metal. Seto waited, letting the magical cold of the tray seep into the potion until it was drinkable.   
Seto smiled as he picked up the potion. Ty tensed slightly, ready to react if something went wrong. Seto raised the bottle to his lips, then threw back as much of the potion as he could in one gulp. He put the bottle down, starting to cough. Ty’s eyes widened, but Seto waved him away. One particularly forceful cough expelled a feather from Seto’s mouth. Seto gagged. “Forgot that was in there.”  
“Should the potion be taking effect now?” Ty asked. Seto sighed, looking disappointed.  
“Nothing’s happening.”  
“That’s too bad. Maybe you can try again later. For now, though, let’s focus on some easier potions, okay?”  
“Okay…” Seto seemed really put out by his failure, but Ty could see his confidence regenerating as Seto started putting together more familiar potions. Minor healing potions for burns and scratches, energy potions for when they ran out of coffee and couldn’t be bothered to buy more, potions that quieted nightmares. Things that they used all the time. They weren’t running low on anything at the moment, but Seto really enjoyed making potions.  
Ty didn’t honestly know enough to be helpful, just enough to offer praise that sounded like he knew anything about any of what Seto was doing. He had his attention on different things to know, even more important. He knew the way Seto moved when he was tired. He knew the length of pauses between steps of a formula, and when Seto was just taking a moment to mentally review, and when he was too tired to think straight. He knew when it was time to tell Seto to go to bed, and when Seto was tired enough to listen.  
“It’s getting really late.” Ty noted, after watching Seto pause to stare blankly into space for several seconds for the third time in as many minutes.   
Seto yawned. “Just a couple more energy potions. Maybe I could sample one just to help me keep going…”  
“You don’t have any way of confirming the potion you had earlier was completely inert, and you shouldn’t mix potions without knowing what they’ll do to you. Besides, I’m very tired, and energy potions only do so much.” Ty knew that Seto would stop if he knew his friend was tired. Ty wasn’t really all that exhausted, but that was one of the few reliable ways to get Seto to stop working and go to sleep.  
"...Okay." Ty helped Seto clean up, placing reagents in carefully labeled cabinets and rinsing out potion bottles. Ty walked with Seto back to their room. Seto was doing his best not to look tired, but he collapsed onto his bed the second he was inside the room.   
Ty pulled the sheets over Seto, piling blankets around the sorcerer. "You don't have to tuck me in, I'm not five." Seto grumbled, making absolutely no move to stop Ty.  
"You act like it, when you won't go to sleep." Ty shot back. He brushed a bit of hair out of Seto's face. "I'm just worried about you. You're going to hurt yourself, messing around with potions when you aren't well-rested."  
Seto sighed; he knew Ty had a point. "Fine. I'll sleep."  
"Thank you. Goodnight, Seto. See you in the morning."  
"Goodnight, Ty." Seto let his eyes slide shut. He could feel sleep pulling at him, threatening to let him slip into restful oblivion. He didn't want to sleep. He wanted to go back to his lab, and work until he fixed whatever he did wrong with his potion. He just… needed to wait… until… Ty fell asleep… first…  
…  
Seto didn’t get the chance to work on the potion for a while. He was distracted easily, and this wouldn’t be the first time a project fell apart because he stopped doing something and just never picked it up again. By the end of the week, he promised himself, he’d try again.  
He didn’t ever try making that potion again. After a few days, he started feeling a bit off. Very restless, very itchy, feeling intensely claustrophobic in spaces that had felt just fine before. He didn’t know what was wrong with him.  
He tried to keep up a good attitude all day, not letting his friends know that he wasn't feeling well. But the claustrophobia and the restlessness only got worse, and by the time the sun was starting to set, he couldn't bear to be inside a second longer. He sprinted outside the second dinner finished.   
He sighed, relieved as he breathed in the fresh air. He felt like a weight the size of a house had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt lighter, freer, with the open air surrounding him. The need to move had hardly disappeared, but it was more of a desire to explore than a need to escape.   
Hardly looking back, he ran off onto the trail into the woods. He sprinted, skipping slightly as he went. He didn't care that it was getting dark, that the moon was rising; he could see where he was going, and his footsteps were certain. Then he tripped and fell. He grimaced, for once regretting the heavy robes he wore for the aesthetic. It was going to take ages to get the dirt out…   
He tried to turn back, but stumbled again; his robes seemed too big. He let out an irritated squawk. Shocked by the sound, he put a hand to his throat, bringing his arm into view. He froze. He pushed the hood off his head, as it had started to hang over his eyes. He could see pin-like structures emerging from the top of his arm, unfurling into downy feathers within seconds. He could feel the same thing happening all over his body. He could see more, longer pin feathers pushing through the skin of his arm. His heart was pounding, and he struggled to run, but he was tangled in a trap made of his own clothes. He curled up on the ground, trying to breathe.   
He had to get out. He had to get out. The panic was overwhelming his mind, and he couldn't think straight. He thrashed wildly, unable to see with the thick fabric over his eyes. He only seemed able to get himself tangled up worse. Eventually, he lay still, no less afraid but unable to move. Exhausted, he passed out.  
…  
Ty had a suspicion of what was wrong the moment Seto ran out. "I'm going to go after him." He said as they all watched him sprint off into the woods. Jerome glanced at him. "I'm sure he'll come back soon." There was a silent warning behind those words; they didn't have much time before the moon would rise and they would all turn. They had to be out of the house and out of sight by then, and Ty didn't have the time to find Seto, figure out what was wrong, and make sure Seto gets home safely without being seen. Ty looked Jerome in the eye. Jerome didn't know about the potion, didn't have the same suspicion Ty did, but he still turned away from the force of his glare.  
As Jerome, Mitch, and Jason headed for the cave, Ty started walking down the trail. He picked up a bit of speed once he felt fur pricking at his skin. He tried his best not to slow down as he felt himself shifting, waiting until he couldn’t take the pain a moment longer to drop to all fours. He was getting better at shifting; it was much quicker than it had been at first, and he had gotten the hang of shifting his clothes with him; Mitch was almost there, but was still shredding a few jackets.   
His memory was starting to blur around the edges, but he managed to keep his focus; find Seto, make sure he’s safe. At least now he could track by scent. It seemed like Seto had stuck to the trail for the most part… after a few more minutes of walking, Ty looked up to see Seto’s robes lying in the middle of the path. Cautiously, Ty padded towards the pile. There was a large lump in the pile of robes. Curious, Ty poked it with his nose.  
He jumped back in surprise as the lump began thrashing around in a panic, letting out loud, panicked caws. Ty crept closer as the movements slowed, wishing he still had opposable thumbs. He began to carefully move the robes, trying to untangle the creature inside.   
As soon as Ty opened up a way out, a giant raven burst out of the robes. Ty reeled back as the panicked bird pecked and tore at his face. He barked, snapping at the raven. He just caught a few feathers in his mouth, but the shock was enough to get the bird to stop attacking, standing on the ground with feathers fluffed up in fear.  
Ty approached cautiously, sniffing at the wereraven. Yep. Definitely Seto. But when Ty drew closer, Seto backed up, cawing loudly, still disoriented from pain and fear. He flapped his wings quickly, but couldn’t seem to get off the ground. Ty sat down, thinking for a moment before having an idea. He darted forward quickly, grabbing Seto’s robes in his mouth and running off the trail, towards the cave. He’d have to have moved it to the safety of the cave at some point anyways, but this way Seto would have a reason to follow him.  
Seto squawked indignantly, following Ty. He couldn't seem to fly. He ran after Ty on foot, occasionally jumping and flapping his wings. The werefox glanced back, slowing down a little so that Seto could follow him more easily.  
It wasn't long before they came to the river. Ty let out a muffled whine, pacing alongside the riverbank. Seto had caught up by now, pecking irritably at Ty and trying to tug his robes out of his mouth. Ty ignored him, trying to find a way across the river. He could see a few places where he could safely cross, but not without soaking Seto's robes…  
He had an idea, though he wasn't sure if it would work. He focused as best he could, trying to remember as much about standing on two legs as he could. Human memories were fuzzy, but he just tried to focus on legs. Legs. Legs. Uh… balance is definitely different. He thinks the length of the legs in comparison to the front limbs is important? He's pretty sure his hips have a major role in how walking works? Or is that the pelvis? One of the two. Maybe both? ...He’s just going to go with hips for now, that seems easier.  
Okay. Longer legs, human hips. That's doable. He's seen Jerome take a half-human half-wolf form before. It can't be that hard to just change the hips and legs. He focused, trying to push himself up into a standing position and shift. Seto cawed in alarm, hopping back at the sound of crunching bone as Ty’s skeleton moved. Ty stood, wobbling unsteadily.   
This hurt a lot more than he thought it would; his spine was killing him. He tried to run across the river as fast as he could, hearing Seto squawking in worry behind him. He tripped over a stone in the river just before reaching the bank, falling hard in the mud. He quietly whimpered in pain, still clutching Seto’s robes tightly in his mouth. He heard the flapping of wings, and saw Seto land, albeit clumsily, in front of him. Good to see that he’s worked out flying, at least.   
Ty used his front legs to pull himself out of the water, lying down and taking a few breaths before trying to shift himself back to normal. ...It wasn’t working. Why wasn’t it working? He could feel the bones moving, but it was so much slower and painful than it had been just a few minutes ago, and he didn’t feel like he was making much progress. He whined, curling up.   
Seto hopped closer, tilting his head. He jumped on top of Ty, letting out several loud calls. Ty blinked, getting an idea. He threw his head back, letting out the loudest howling noise he could. He listened closely, and after several tense seconds, he heard answering wolf howls.   
Ty made a quiet noise of relief. Seto sat down, preening through Ty’s fur comfortingly as he settled down to wait. Jerome and Mitch were coming.


	6. Just imagine a fox with human legs for a second

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is late and short! I've been busy lately, and my writing has definitely suffered as a result. I'm already writing the next chapter though, and that'll be much longer.

Ty lifted his head, sniffing the air. His tail thumped against the ground, slowly picking up speed as the scent grew closer. Jerome was almost here.  
He whined in excitement when he saw Jerome, in full wolf form, running straight towards him as fast as he could. Jerome frantically checked over Ty for injury, pausing when he came to Ty's oddly proportioned back legs. He quickly realized what was wrong, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "Practice shifting back at the cave. Don't scare me like that." He growled, letting Ty lean against him as he struggled to get up.   
"Sorry." Ty whimpered. He tried standing, but he couldn’t manage either quadrupedal or bipedal movement, even with Jerome there to help him. Jerome sighed. Ty really messed himself up, didn't he? Jerome shifted into a bipedal form, picking up his friend. He heard cawing and the sound of flapping wings, and felt a heavy weight settling onto his shoulder. He glanced over and saw an unnaturally large raven, barely fitting onto his shoulder but still clinging tightly to him.   
Jerome tilted his head, now noticing the absolutely filthy mass of fabric Ty was holding in his mouth. Through the water, dirt, and mud, Jerome could see glints of purple. He put two and two together. Oh. Well, Seto probably won't be happy about the state of his robes in the morning… at least they have a few spare sets of clothes in the cave that'll probably fit him.   
Jerome carried Ty gently to the cave. Jason sat at the cave's mouth, Mitch lying next to him. Jason's eyes widened at the sight of Ty. "What happened?"   
“He tried shifting. Didn’t quite get it right, and now he’s exhausted his ability to consciously shift. He’s going to be stuck like this until morning.” Jerome said, gently laying Ty down on the cave floor.   
"Oh." Jason said quietly. "Is there anything I can do to help him…?"   
"Just watch him, make sure he doesn't move too much. He's not in any danger, but I can't imagine that he's comfortable." Jerome said. Jason sat down next to Ty with a sigh. Seto hopped off of Jerome's shoulder, fluttering down to the cave floor. Jerome gestured to the wereraven. "Also, I guess this is happening now. Seto's here." Jason paused for a few seconds, then decided not to question it.  
"Hey, Seto." Seto tilted his head, recognizing the sound of his own name, but his attention was focused on Ty. He hopped over, making a raspy hiss when Jason reached for Ty. Jason smiled, sitting back. "Fine. I won't touch him." Seto sat down, cuddled protectively against Ty as they all waited for sunrise.  
…  
Ty grit his teeth as he shifted back into human form, trying not to let the pain show. He could feel Jerome's hand on his shoulder and hear quiet words. He couldn't quite make out what Jerome was saying, but he got that the werewolf was trying to calm and comfort him.   
Ty gasped as he felt the transformation end. He tasted blood in his mouth; he must have bitten his tongue or something. He stood, trying not to look as badly shaken as he was. "Are you okay?" He heard.  
Ty turned to see Seto standing there, looking at him in concern. Seto had turned back before him, and was already dressed in spare sweatpants and a hoodie slightly too big for him. "Yeah, I'm fine," Ty said, getting to his feet and trying not to look weak. "How about you?"  
"I'm… not so great…" Seto said. He looked devastated, not meeting Ty's eyes out of shame.   
"Well… being a were isn't that bad. You get used to it really quickly, and it turns out all those stories about savage beasts tearing people apart and eating them are really, really exaggerated. Also, you're a bird, and couldn't really kill anyone if you wanted. My point is, I know that this is really scary, but we're all here to help you."  
"...I just can't believe I screwed the potion up that badly…"  
Ty blinked. "Oh. Huh. I think that a potion to turn somebody into a were is probably really hard to make… Jerome, is that right?"  
"...I'm only really familiar with my family's pack, and they were all turned by bites, but I don't think that transformations via potions are common? So, yeah, probably a difficult potion to make."  
"Yeah! Seto, you accidentally made a really rare and difficult potion. That's something to be proud of!"  
"If I knew exactly how I did it…" Seto muttered under his breath, but he seemed to feel a little better.   
They all started walking home along the trail. The air was crisp, a thin fog coating the ground. It was a little chilly, but none of them really noticed or cared. They talked, laughing and joking as they drew closer to home. Ty was in the middle of teasing Seto for being so protective of him when he trailed off, seeing a glimpse of something white just off the gravel pathway.   
He walked towards it, ignoring questions from the others. He crouched down to inspect it; a small bone. He glanced up, seeing a trail of more bones. He followed, the others coming up behind him.  
They entered a small clearing. In the center of the clearing lay a deer skeleton, stripped of all meat; very recently, judging by the smell and the bits of gristle still stuck to the bone. They were only really able to recognize it as a deer skeleton because of the skull; the rest of it had been scattered, thrown about the clearing haphazardly.   
They all exchanged confused and worried glances. None of them knew what could have done this. Most wild animals might break bones to get at the marrow, but these bones were completely intact, and flung too far around to be accidental. Something about this put them all on edge, and they were suddenly hyper aware of every sound around them, every little crunching leaf and rustling branch.   
Jerome shifted very slightly, just enough to catch a scent. He reeled back, taken aback by the stench. The clearing reeked of rage and fear and blood, alongside a very clear scent-message; This is our territory. We are dangerous. Stay away if you want to live. He shook his head with a small growl, shifting completely back to human. Even with a less-sensitive nose, he could still smell blood. Mitch gave him a concerned look. "Jerome? What's wrong?"  
"...There's another pack in these woods now. And they don't seem interested in sharing."


	7. Ty dares Sky to eat 100 bowls of pasta at the Olive Garden

They all did their very best, at first, to ignore it.   
They had two more nights of full moons after they first found the deer bones. The new pack was clearly settling in comfortably. They could hear howling all night. There seemed to be a definitive leader in this pack; the howl would always start with the same clear voice, followed by many more scratchier, angrier howls.   
Jerome and his pack didn't leave the cave anymore. They didn't want to reveal their presence. Not everyone was happy with that arrangement. Mitch was impulsive enough without territorial instinct kicking in; more than once, he'd tried to respond to the stranger pack with his own challenging howl, but Jerome had shut him up quickly each time. Mitch was very clearly upset with him at this point, but Jerome was afraid to challenge the other pack.  
Jerome's own pack was small, and not very strong. He and Mitch were both strong fighters, that was true. But they would likely be outnumbered by the other pack, and he doubted that anyone else would be able to back them up. Ty was fierce, but werefoxes were so little compared to werewolves; he'd be torn apart. Seto could fly, that was an advantage, but coming close enough to peck at someone's eyes would leave him vulnerable. And poor Jason… he had no claws or teeth to protect himself.   
They couldn't fight. Jerome could never forgive himself if he got one of his friends hurt, or even killed. So they stayed inside their cave, which felt increasingly claustrophobic as they listened to the howling outside. They went home quickly in the mornings, quietly as they could. Jerome let out a sigh of relief as they arrived home after the last night of the full moon; they were safe now, they had time to plan and figure out how to get the rival pack out of their woods.   
But they heard howling again the next night. Jerome didn't know what to do; he just lay awake, listening to a sound he was learning to be terrified of. Part of him wanted to hope that maybe it was just a pack of normal wolves after all, that the sight and smell of werewolves would be enough to scare them off next month. Part of him suspected that this was a pack of weres, but far more wild than his pack. Adept at transforming, disdainful of the rest of the world, turning every night and spending their lives in the woods. Jerome had heard of a few packs like that; some peaceful and just weary of humanity, some violent and full of rage. Judging by the stench of blood and fear in the clearing with the deer skeleton, Jerome suspected it was the latter.   
Rumors began to spread. Everytime they went to town, they could hear whispers of rumors. Grocery store, movie theater, everywhere they went people were talking about the howling. People were starting to find dismembered animal skeletons scattered around, and seeing eyes in the forest at night. Everyone was tense, waiting for something to happen. Jerome knew things couldn't last like this forever. Somebody was going to get hurt, and he would be terrified that it would be someone he knew.  
…  
Silver and gold blades clashed, the sound ringing across the yard.   
Ty and Sky circled each other, searching for weak points in each other's defenses. Ty eyed the silver of Sky's sword warily; even with the thick leather armor protecting him, he didn't want to risk being hit. He'd had a few scratches already, and he'd barely been able to hide the agony from Sky. He didn't want to make his friend suspicious. So he grinned back when Sky smiled at him, dodging a sudden lunge.   
Sky moved in a blur, so fast that Ty could barely track his movements, let alone react in time. Sky smacked him in the chest with the flat of the blade, knocking him over. Before Ty could stand up, Sky was standing on top of him, tip of the sword at his throat. "Do you yield?" Sky asked, tone mock-serious as a smile tugged at his lips. Ty laughed, smacking Sky in the ankle with his own golden blade.   
Sky cried out in pain, falling back and onto the ground. Ty's eyes widened when he saw blood. "Shit! I'm so sorry, Sky, I meant to hit with the flat of the sword…"  
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Sky gasped. He struggled to his feet, putting all his weight on his uninjured foot. "See? I'm okay." He said with a pained grin that more resembled a grimace. Ty cringed.  
"Come on, let's go inside and get that bandaged." Ty said. Sky grumbled, but limped inside, letting Ty help him. Ty had Sky sit down while he rummaged through a first aid kit, pulling out disinfectant and bandages. Ty poured the disinfectant over the slash in Sky's ankle, ignoring the hiss of pain. He wrapped it tightly in bandages. "Again, I'm really, really sorry, Sky."  
"It's fine. It was just an accident."  
"Still, I feel really bad. If there's anything I can do to make it up for you…"  
"...Olive garden?"  
"Oh my god." Sky cackled in delight as Ty let out a moan of exasperation.  
"You said anything you could do to make it up…?"  
"It's so, so bad for you. I'm trying not to judge your choices, but don't you get sick of it at some point?"  
"Oh, Ty. Oh, Ty, my ankle… oh it hurts so bad… only breadsticks can cure me, Ty, please…"  
"Fine. You're at least getting a side salad so we can at least pretend that this is a healthy choice."  
Sky cheered, running for the car as best he could. Ty drove the two of them down to Olive Garden; he could drive there with his eyes closed at this point. "Seriously, Sky. You order so much whenever we come here. I know making custom swords has a decent profit margin, but you can't possibly afford to keep doing this."  
Sky grinned. "I'm not even that hungry today. And besides…" He rummaged in his pocket for his wallet, cracking it open and flipping out a card. "Take a look at this."  
Ty parked the car before looking over at the card in Sky's hands. "Is that…?"  
"Lifetime. Unlimited. Pasta pass."   
"What- those sold out in less than a second, how-"  
"I trained myself to feel no hesitation or regret!" Sky bragged as they walked into the restaurant.   
…  
"Oh, I regret this."   
Sky stared down another bowl of pasta, sighing. Ty snickered quietly, holding his phone steady and zooming in slightly on Sky's face. Sky looked dismayed, but his eyes still sparkled with the excitement of a challenge. Ty had been recording from the moment Sky had received the first bowl.  
"You know you can stop at any time, right?" Ty said, amused.   
"I know I can stop, but should I stop and face the shame of giving up?"  
"Yes!"  
Sky rolled his eyes, about to reply when the door slammed open. Both Ty and Sky turned towards the disturbance- who the hell felt like they had to make a dramatic entrance into an Olive Garden? - and they both froze when they saw what the strangers carried.  
Each one of them had a silver weapon slung over their back.  
Silently and quickly, hoping they wouldn't notice, Ty turned his phone slightly to record them. Their swords and axes and arrows were all tucked away safely, but Ty could still see the vicious points, and could clearly imagine them at his throat.   
They had a clear leader; one of them sauntered forward, asking for a table, and Ty watched as they were led to the table right next to him and Sky. Ty quickly put his phone on the table face-down, hoping it would still record audio without being too obvious. The others would want to know about this. Sky looked back at the group. "Sorry for bothering you, but are you all werewolf hunters?"  
The leader laughed. "We sure are! We've heard that this town has a werewolf problem…" Ty tensed, hoping Sky would steer this conversation to an end quickly. Sky leaned back, raising an eyebrow. "We have a something problem all right. There's howling every night. Then again, every night and not just on the full moon. It could just be an ordinary pack of wolves making themselves at home."  
"Uh huh. Or, it's a feral pack. Embraced the monster within and let it take them over." Ty rolled his eyes; if anything, going feral was the result of hating and fearing transformation so much that they spent every full moon cut off completely from their human mind in a state of constant panic. Going feral and voluntarily spending most of your time transformed never went together. Sky just shrugged.  
"I guess that's possible."  
"Either way, we're prepared. Just because our weapons are made for werewolves doesn't mean they won't cut anything else. The pack kill anyone yet?" The hunter sounded strangely eager.   
Sky raised an eyebrow, staring in disapproval. The hunter coughed, repeating himself in a more mournful tone. "No, nobody yet." Sky responded.   
The hunter turned away, cursing under his breath. That seemed to be the end of the conversation. Ty gave Sky a questioning glance. "There are some pretty strict rules about hunting werewolves; they're not allowed to attack unless they can prove that there's an actual threat to public safety. There aren't many real laws about werewolf hunting, but anybody who knows how to repair silver weapons or provide the funds for a hunt will also know who's killing just for the thrill of it." Sky explained in a whisper.   
Ty nodded, as if it was just an interesting fact and not the potential difference between life and death if he and the rest of his pack were discovered. He flipped his phone back over, ending the recording without a word. He tried to act normal, not to give away his fear to Sky. If Sky noticed, he said nothing, to Ty's relief. Still, he couldn't shake the chill down his spine until they left.  
…  
"Hunters." Jerome growled. "Like the invading pack wasn't enough of a problem for us anyways."   
They had called an impromptu meeting in the library. They sat in a rough circle, perched on soft blankets and colorful beanbag chairs that didn't match their grim expressions. Seto sighed. "I can't imagine it'll end well if we're caught in the crossfire. Can't we just hide out in the cave if the situation isn't sorted out by the next full moon?"  
Mitch coughed. "They… they found the cave." Everyone turned to him. Mitch winced before continuing. "I went there to drop off another jacket, just in case. It was completely trashed… all our stuff that was in there was just torn to pieces and scattered across the floor. I don't want to think about what would have happened if we had been there."   
They were quiet for a long moment. Eventually, Ty broke the silence. "So, we have a highly aggressive pack in our forest, a bunch of werewolf hunters who seem like they just can't wait to put some silver through the nearest were, and our only shelter has been completely wrecked."  
"Maybe…" Jerome said, half-talking to himself.   
"Maybe what?"  
"Maybe we could stay at home. None of us are feral. We're accepting the transformation, and retaining enough of our human minds that the house feels like home and not some kind of cage. Hopefully, either the pack will drive out the hunters, or the hunters will drive out the pack, and the winner will be weakened by the fight, but if they don't beat each other before the full moon… we could just hang out in our house."  
Mitch tilted his head. "That would be great if we were all weres…"  
"Ian and Quentin are going to see a movie first night of the full moon. Jason, you can convince Sky to go camping with you, right?"   
"I think at least for the first night, yeah."  
"Thank you, Jason." Jerome sighed. "Look… I know this plan is risky, but hopefully we won't need to put it into action. We just need to be patient."


	8. Nothing like a horrible camping trip for spilling secrets hidden from your friends for years

"No way."  
"Come on! Why not?"  
Sky plunged the sword he was making into cold water. A thick cloud of steam rose around them, and when it dissipated, Sky was no longer even looking at Jason. "A camping trip on the full moon? With rumors of a werewolf pack nearby? That's downright suicidal."  
"Come on, Sky. I know a nice camping spot a good distance from where the howls are coming from. Right by the lake."   
"...The lake."  
"No squids in this one, I know how you feel about them." Sky just grunted in response, hammering the sword a smidge too hard. "Besides, there's lots of caves to hide in. We can set up a tent in there, and if you're really concerned, we can go to bed before the moon even rises."  
Sky paused, attention leaving the sword. "...You'll go to bed before the moon rises?"   
"If it makes you feel safer, yeah. Come on, Sky. We haven't gone camping in a long time, it'll be fun!"  
"You're not going to let up until I agree to go, are you?"  
"Nope!"  
Sky shrugged, turning back to the sword. "Fine then, I'll go." He quenched the blade one final time before laying it on a stone table, ready for a handle to be attached. "Worst case scenario, I'm prepared."  
…  
Sky seemed nervous in the days leading up to the trip, but he seemed to have calmed down by the time they left. The fact that he had brought along more than a few swords probably helped. The lake was a decent distance from the nearest parking lot, and wasn't really an official campground, so Jason and Sky had to haul all the equipment they brought down through the woods. Jason would have thought that Sky would leave at least some of the blades, but he had a bag full of silver, and a golden sword hanging at his side. Jason raised an eyebrow, but decided not to confront him. Just in case the werewolf pack actually showed up…  
There weren't a whole lot of even, open spaces with few rocks away from the water, but Jason had been right about the caves. It didn't take long to find one that was cool, relatively free of bats, and large enough for the tent. They set it up quickly, Sky constantly checking the time. Jason raised an eyebrow. Wow, Sky must be really paranoid about that pack.   
They were planning to stay for every night of the full moon, ensuring that everyone else could transform safely at home; well, assuming they found some way to deal with Quentin and Ian. They would be out pretty late tonight for their movie, and the current plan was just to hide and pretend to be asleep when they came back. No idea what they would do for the next two nights, all the planning had been about how to take care of getting Sky out of the house. It wasn't that they didn't trust Sky in particular, but… they wanted to make extra sure to break it to him gently. He had too much silver to make surprising him an option.  
Sky and Jason didn't have a whole lot of time left in the day, after all the time it took to get to the lake and set everything up, but they enjoyed the time they had. Still, Sky herded Jason back into the cave quickly as the sun sank in the sky. "Come on, we haven't even had a campfire-" Jason said.  
"Maybe on a night that isn't a full moon. We have a microwave at home, we can still make s'mores when we get back."  
"It's not the same."   
"Are you kidding me? You know when you're microwaving a marshmallow and it puffs up really big and if you cook it a little more, it turns kinda hard and caramelizes a bit when you take it out-"  
"I know, it tastes really good, but it's about the experience, Sky!"  
"Yeah, well, the experience is best when you aren't being eaten alive by a furry." As Sky spoke, he pulled some of the swords out of his bag, placing them within arm's reach of the sleeping bags. He put the one golden sword next to Jason.   
"...Is that any good against werewolves?" Jason asked quietly.   
Sky didn't look him in the eye when he answered. "Different metals are effective to different degrees against different weres. Take the silver if you hear howling. But it's a good idea to keep this on you, just in case."  
…  
Sky's advice had only stirred up Jason's fears, making him jump at every little sound. But it was getting dark, the cave was comfortably cool, and the sword by Jason’s side made him feel a little safer. He fell asleep quickly. He didn’t even notice when Sky got up and left.  
He woke up in the middle of the night to find Sky gone. He sat up, wide-eyed. For a moment, he wanted to scream, but he quickly realized that wouldn't be a smart move if there was danger nearby.   
He sat there in silence, trying to plan his next move. Sky was tough, he could handle himself. A howl pierced the night, and Jason winced, though he could tell the sound came from miles away. ...Maybe he should still check on Sky. Just to be safe. Jason picked up the sword Sky had left for him; he could see why this was the one Sky chose. It was a sharp blade, the edge strong even in the soft metal. It was also very heavy; better suited for Sky to wield than for Jason’s smaller frame, but it still felt reassuringly powerful.   
Jason slowly left the tent and the cave, clutching the sword tightly. He saw someone standing in the shallow edge of the lake, and he ran over, thinking that it must be Sky. The figure turned, and Jason stopped. ...That was definitely not Sky.  
The figure locked eyes with Jason, and that was when everything Jason could remember got very blurry. He couldn't remember much about what the figure looked like; only a vague recollection that they were attractive, and that might have just been whatever magic had him frozen in place as the figure gave him a hungry, fanged grin. He remembered stumbling forward, so entranced that he didn't notice his legs moving until he realized how close he was to the figure. He remembered feeling strong hands on him, one holding his shoulder tightly to keep him still and the other tracing his neck, searching before finding some perfect spot.   
And he remembered the teeth sinking into his neck.  
He didn't flinch. Didn't move. Barely even noticed what was happening. He just stood there, vaguely aware of the distant pain in his neck. After a few minutes, he started feeling dizzy. He started swaying a little, finding it harder to stand. He nearly fell, forcing the vampire to hold him up. It occurred to Jason in a sort of detached, unemotional way that the vampire wouldn’t stop drinking until every last drop of blood was gone. He had the idea that maybe he should do something to stop that, but moving felt like way too much work.   
As he closed his eyes, something knocked the vampire off balance. He felt the fangs being ripped out of his neck as the vampire stumbled. Jason's eyes widened, all the pain and fear and adrenaline that he should have been feeling hitting him at once. Jason screamed, and the vampire tried to cover his mouth. On instinct, Jason bit down. He felt a thick, cold sort of blood (delirious, he thought of strawberry jam) flood his mouth, and he let go in disgust, opting to instead punch the vampire in the face.   
The vampire was still reeling from whatever had knocked them off balance, but they hissed and lunged at Jason, determined to finish their meal. That's when Jason remembered that he had a sword. He swung it wildly, just trying to get the vampire away. It opened up a large gash that closed almost immediately, but still knocked the vampire off balance. Panicking, Jason stabbed the sword through their gut and into the ground, and he ran. From the volume and rage in the shouting behind him, the vampire was more angered than hurt, but they couldn't move and that's all that mattered to Jason.   
He sprinted back to the cave. He dove into the tent, scrambling for some new weapon. His hand closed on a wooden stake. He stared at it for a moment- would it even work?- but he clutched it tightly as he turned back to face the tent's entrance. He sat there all night, stake in a death grip, waiting for any sign of movement. Even as the adrenaline began to fade, he didn't dare close his eyes for a second. Any minute now, he thought, the vampire would free themselves and come back to finish him off.   
It was a while before he even noticed that his neck was still oozing blood. He dug a first aid kit out as quietly as he could without letting go of the stake. He wrapped his neck, trying not to choke himself while marveling at how he hadn't passed out from blood loss yet. In fact, he was starting to feel really dizzy, but he forced himself to stay awake. He wasn't certain how successful his attempts to stay alert were. Maybe he stayed awake the whole night. Maybe he fell asleep. Most likely, he passed out in small bursts where the smallest noise would wake him, leaving him in a half-awake terrified daze. All he knew was that he was ready to weep in relief when he saw light piercing the tent walls.  
Even then, he didn't dare let down his guard until the light was strong and the sun high enough in the sky that the vampire wouldn't still be walking around in the open. He hadn't exactly done research beforehand, so he wasn't taking any chances with how much sunlight would make him safe.   
...  
He heard the crackling of a fire outside.   
Slowly, Jason left the tent, peeking out of the cave. He saw Sky with his back to the cave, tending a campfire. Sky's hair was soaking wet, and there were a few fish cooking on a rack suspended over the fire. Sky looked back, smiling when he saw Jason. "Hey Jason! I thought I'd make some… some breakfast…" He trailed off when he saw that Jason's face was streaked with dried tears and blood. "What happened?"   
Jason responded by bursting into fresh tears, the stress and terror of the night finally overcoming him. Sky came over and hugged him, letting Jason just curl into him and cry until he was out of tears. When Jason had calmed enough to talk, Sky had him sit down by the fire. "I was bitten." Jason said quietly, deciding that was most important to start with.   
Sky's eyes widened in sheer horror. "Bitten?" He echoed. Jason nodded. "B-Bitten by what?" Sky asked, visibly in shock.   
"Vampire." Jason said. He saw the brief moment of relief flashing over Sky's face, followed by the look of horror when what Jason had said sunk in. Jason half expected Sky to attack, or at least push him away in terror. Instead, Sky launched into another, tighter hug.   
"Oh, Jason… it's going to be okay, I promise." Sky said, sounding like he was about to start crying himself. Jason hugged him back, relieved that Sky wasn't going to hurt him, and a little guilty for thinking that Sky would hurt him.  
They agreed to go back home right away. Jason didn't know how they would keep Sky from seeing the others on the next nights of the full moon, but he couldn't bring himself to resist going home. They packed as quickly as they could, but Jason found himself saving the retrieval of the golden sword for last, dreading going back to where he had been attacked.   
Sky walked with him. Along the way to the shore, Jason explained the details of what had happened. He questioned whether or not he was a vampire now; Sky said that vampires only seemed to turn others when the victim drank some of the vampire's blood as well. Jason thought for a long moment whether his quick taste while defending himself counted. He thought he remembered spitting out as much of it as he could, but… there was still a lot of blood.   
Jason stopped puzzling over that question when he saw the sword. It was still embedded firmly in the ground, and surrounded by a pile of ash. Already the tide was lapping at the pile, carrying it out into the lake. Sky and Jason both stared at it, realization sinking in. Jason covered his mouth in horror. "They couldn't get away when the sun rose…"  
Sky's eyes were wide, but he still tried to comfort Jason. "It's not your fault, not really."  
"H-How is this not my fault!?"  
"They attacked you first. And if what you said is true, they weren't going to let you go until they had drained you completely. You acted in self-defense, and not to mention, without realizing the consequences." Sky’s words were comforting, but the notion that he had only killed to protect himself didn’t do much to lower Jason’s guilt.  
There wasn't much more anybody could do at this point, though. Jason wanted to at least try some sort of proper funeral, but he knew nothing about his attacker. History, personality, hell, he didn’t even know their name. He did his best to try and pay respects, but he left unsatisfied and consumed with guilt.   
...  
Which is part of why he snapped at Sky when they were getting into the car. Sky was making sure they hadn’t left any silver weapons behind, counting up every piece in the bag. “At least we didn’t run into any werewolves.” Sky said. His tone was half-joking, trying to lighten the mood, but it still irritated Jason.  
"What's your problem anyways!?" Jason snarled.  
Sky blinked. "What-"  
"What is your problem with weres!? I can understand wanting to be careful if you think someone's gone feral, but judging from the amount of silver you brought, you're willing to hunt them down yourself! And I've seen you training with Ty, teaching him how to use silver weapons. Like you're trying to train him into becoming a hunter, which, news flash! I doubt he's at all interested in! What kind of justification do you have for being willing to hunt people down for something that's not their fault, and trying to convince us to join you!"  
Sky just stared, startled by Jason's outburst. He slowly zipped up the bag of weapons and started the car. He was silent for a long, long time. Jason stared out the window, trying not to look at Sky. The car felt too hot, the sun burning into Jason's face.  
"I'm not a hunter." Sky finally said.   
"Huh?"  
"I'm not a hunter. They have certain requirements I couldn't meet, and tests I couldn't pass. It used to bug me a lot, but after the war with the squids ended, I decided I couldn't handle many more kill-or-be-killed situations, and that's a were hunter's entire life. But I learned a lot, and I hung on to a lot of the important stuff. And I want my friends to know that stuff in case they ever need to."  
"Why did you need to learn about hunting weres in the first place?"  
Again, Sky was silent for so long that Jason thought he wasn't going to answer. "My father was a weresquid."  
Jason didn't know what he had been expecting, but it wasn't this. "A weresquid?"  
"Yeah.”  
“Didn’t know that was possible.”  
“Apparently there’s weres for just about every species out there. Some are rarer than others. There are a couple weres that have been around for a long time, like werewolves and such, and sometimes you have the products of isolated curses and spells gone wrong, and those ones are usually either new or disinterested in growing their numbers."  
"Guess weresquids are in that second category, seeing as I've never heard of them before."  
Sky shrugged. "I guess so. I didn't really do much research. ...Weresquids don't usually get along well with normal squids. They're bigger, stronger, dumber… they're risky to keep around. But it's not entirely unheard of for squids to try and get weresquids to work with them.  
"I was too young to remember when it happened. I just know what my mom told me. She said my father was good, but then he started embracing the changes the full moon brought. He refused to be caged, he would disappear to places underwater where she couldn't track his movements, he experimented with achieving partial transformation and transformation without the full moon… he lost his mind to the beast.   
"He was found by squids one night. Normally there would have been a fight, but the squids needed help to invade land. Since he had embraced his transformations so much, he remembered enough between forms to be useful. He brought the squids information on places that could easily be attacked from the water, and they offered him power in return. It was a while before my mom found out, caught him leaving to give a report. ...There was a fight. And it got really bad. My mom managed to drive my dad off, and he never came back.  
“Our town was attacked shortly afterwards. My mom and I were some of the only people who stayed once the ports were destroyed. We rebuilt, and we survived. But everything was so much harder when the port was gone. It was almost impossible to keep trade open for long before the squids would attack again, and even when we got good at making docks we could rebuild cheaply and quickly, fewer and fewer people wanted to take the risk of trading on the sea.   
"I always wanted revenge on my dad for what he did. That's why I learned from a werewolf hunter nearby, in the hope of learning something that could be applied to weresquids. It's why I fought the squids as soon as I was old enough to wield a sword, thinking that eventually I would find someone who would give up information about my dad. It's even why I got into making swords in the first place, to make something strong enough to beat him."  
That was a lot for Jason to process. He had many, many questions, but he focused on the biggest one in his mind. “Did you ever find him?”  
Sky laughed, a sound halfway to a sob. “Like I said. Weresquids and normal squids don’t get along. Apparently, he started getting pushy. Wanted more pay and more power for every time he gave useful information. Eventually, he got to be more trouble than he was worth, and… and they killed him.”  
“Oh.” Jason said. He felt like he should say something, but he couldn’t think of any way to respond to what Sky had just said. They sat in silence for the rest of the drive home. It was probably the most tense, awkward hour of Jason’s life. He silently sighed in relief when they pulled into the driveway. However, he realized something was wrong the moment he got out of the car.   
Seto and Ty were standing on the porch, talking quietly to each other without taking their eyes off the road leading to the house. Jason walked over. “Guys? What’s going on?”  
“Everyone else is in town. We’re staying behind to watch the house. You and Sky can stay with us or go into town to look with the others, but either way it’s probably not safe to be alone.”  
“Why? What happened!?”  
“...Ian and Quentin didn’t come back when the movie ended.”


	9. Divide and Conquer, in Theory

Ian and Quentin's disappearances didn't go unnoticed.  
There weren't really any witnesses; the theater was in a relatively isolated place on the very edge of town, and only a handful of other people had gone to see the same movie. Ian and Quentin were the last to leave, and theater staff reported hearing them scream, but nothing was seen when someone ran out to check. Well. Almost nothing. Just a splatter of blood on the ground. Not big enough to make it clear a death had occurred, but enough that it would be a shock to find both Ian and Quentin alive and unharmed.  
That would have been enough to start a search already, but there was howling heard very close to town that night. Everyone was on edge, not in the least the werewolf hunters; although, some would say they were just eager to get hunting. They left not an hour before the rumors began to spread, charging into the woods with swords drawn. They hadn't returned.  
Of course, the forest was wide, deep and dark. It would take a while to search, especially for a moving target. The hope was that the werewolf pack had some kind of home base where prisoners would be kept. It wasn't an unlikely assumption. Humans were difficult to carry around without slowing the pack down; prisoners would have to be dumped somewhere where they could be guarded while the rest of the pack hunted.  
That was, of course, assuming they weren't going to just kill Ian and Quentin. Which they probably wouldn't; after all, if they wanted to do so, they could have killed them right outside the theater. It wasn't like they were particularly concerned with being subtle.  
Why they wanted Ian and Quentin was uncertain. Maybe as hostages, to ensure the pack could do as they pleased without fear of retaliation? Or as bait, to lure the hunters into a trap? Perhaps it was even just to add two more to the pack. They hadn't exactly left a note explaining what they wanted. Whatever the reason, Jerome was certain of one thing.  
He had failed to keep his friends safe. And now, watching his friends argue over a table of maps and pictures and phones open to local news sites, he didn't see any way to keep things from getting worse.  
Sky was there- how could they possibly justify keeping Sky from the conversation when Quentin and Ian were missing?- so they couldn't openly discuss it, but Jerome could tell what question every other were in the room was thinking. How were they going to do any searching during the full moon without giving themselves away to Sky?  
Waiting until the full moon was over couldn't even be considered. They wanted Ian and Quentin back now. Sky obviously wouldn't listen even if they came up with some excuse to keep him at home, there was no way he would just sit down and stay if his friends were in danger. And now definitely wasn't the time to reveal themselves to Sky. (Jason hadn’t had time to talk to another of the others, seeing as he hadn’t had a moment since Jerome and the others returned from town without Sky being there, and he was pretty sure it would be best if Sky was free to tell the others however much he wanted whenever he wanted. In any case, he was certain that if the problem was Sky associating “were” with “traitor” thanks to his dad, then revealing themselves as weres while Ian and Quentin were kidnapped was a bad idea.)  
Jerome sighed. “So, votes for just straight up going into the woods and looking for them?” A moment of hesitation, and everybody raised their hands. They all stared at each other for a moment, all of them knowing this was a bad plan and none of them wanting to say it. Ty was the first to say something.  
“Just to be clear, we don’t have any better options, do we?” Ty questioned.  
Seto shrugged. “Oh, sure. But those options mostly consist of waiting around for the werewolf hunters to get back, assuming they come back alive, assuming they bring Ian and Quentin with them, assume they’re bringing Ian and Quentin back alive… really, I’d much rather we go and look for them ourselves.”  
The others murmured their agreement. Sky frowned. "Obviously, I'm in. But, a problem I'm hoping one of us has worked out already, we don't know this forest very well, do we? We can't outpace werewolf hunters trained specifically to search unfamiliar areas quickly, and we certainly can't hope to track the pack that's been living here for like a month, if they don't want to be found."  
Jerome smiled. "Don't worry about that. I did do quite a bit of exploring when we all first moved here, and I remember a lot." Not exactly a lie. It had taken a while for Jerome to find a safe, secluded place to stay during full moons. And even if he did stick mostly to his cave and its immediate surroundings, it didn't hurt to be familiar with the rest of the forest.  
Sky gave him a suspicious look, and Jerome hoped he was questioning how much he really remembered, and not how he knew it. After a few seconds, Sky shrugged. "Sounds good to me."  
"When can we get started?" Mitch asked.  
"As soon as we can. Look, I know that splitting up sounds like a bad, bad idea, but... Sky, you don't mind if we borrow some silver weaponry, do you?"  
"Of course. I don't think I've actually unpacked the bag full of it from the car, let me go get it." Sky stood, walking out of the room.  
"What the hell, Jerome?" Seto hissed as soon as Sky was out of earshot. "We're bringing silver?"  
"I don't like it, but we have to be ready to defend ourselves. Weres when fully shifted can only be seriously hurt by precious metals or other weres, and I'm the only one of us who can shift on command in broad daylight."  
"...Okay, I won't deny that point. But silver still burns us to hold. Won't it look a little suspicious if we're in pain every time we draw the sword?"  
"If the handles are properly made, you shouldn't have to come in direct contact with the silver. And I trust Sky not to buy or make swords that are sub-par in any way, not if he truly believes that our lives could depend on them." Jerome was going to add that even if they ended up touching silver anyways, it couldn't hurt more than bring killed, but he heard the door closing as Sky came back inside.  
Sky hauled the heavy bag onto the table. "I've been sharpening these since people starting reporting the howling. They should be good enough to scare off anyone who tries attacking us."  
Jerome nodded. "Thank you, Sky. Now that we have some way to defend ourselves, I think we'll find some way to track down Quentin and Ian faster if we split up…"  
…  
The split was, of course, actually intended to make the search faster, but it had another purpose not explicitly stated. Keep Sky and Jerome apart, so that Jerome would be able to use his senses as a werewolf to search without Sky knowing.  
So Sky and Jason ended up searching together. Jerome and Mitch were down by the theater where Quentin and Ian disappeared, Ty and Seto were sent into the woods (specifically, Jason noticed, to the cave that the rival pack had found and trashed, although Jerome said nothing about it), and Sky and Jason were checking the old trails, in case werewolves were using the nearly-abandoned paths to move through the woods without having to quickly move Quentin and Ian through brambles and over uneven ground.  
It didn't escape Jason's notice that he and Sky easily had the least dangerous task. Even if, theoretically, the trails were convenient for the rival pack to use when moving prisoners, they wouldn't be very much used by werewolves used to travelling through thick forest once the prisoners were in a secure location. Jason and Sky weren't likely to find anyone but the rare hiker who still used these trails.  
Under most circumstances, Jason would have felt touched that Jerome was trying to look after his safety, but at the moment he was just pissed off at the idea that he wasn't doing something useful. He knew that Jerome didn't mean to insult him by giving him a safe but pointless task, but he couldn't help but feel increasingly furious about it. Maybe it was just the heat getting to him.  
The sun was burning down on him, and it felt like he was melting. He wished he had brought a water bottle with him; his throat felt like it was on fire. Jason stepped into the shade, instantly feeling much better. Still thirsty though.  
It was lucky that he had chosen to step to the side of the trail, under the trees, at that moment. It was thanks to that decision that he saw the footprints. "Sky, come check this out."  
Sky came over, looking at the footprints with Jason. "Huh. That's weird." Some kind of fight had obviously taken place, judging by the jumble of footprints in the dirt. Despite the mess, it was simple to distinguish two sets of prints. One set was clearly human. The other was somewhere between wolf and human, a werewolf half-shifted. Sky gave Jason an uneasy glance. "Theories?"  
"Um… my best guess is that someone tried to escape the werewolves. They ran off the path. They didn't get far. There's no blood I can see, at least." They both knew that it didn't really matter what exactly had happened. They knew what was important to know.  
"They have to be keeping Quentin and Ian close to a trail." Sky said.  
"Are you sure?"  
"They wouldn't have bothered to use the trails if they were going to drag them miles through the forest anyways."  
"Good point." Despite the warm day, Jason felt a chill run down his spine. Quentin and Ian wouldn't be left unguarded. If they were nearby, then so were members of the rival pack. And if members of the rival pack were nearby, and if it happened that one was on patrol or even just wandering around… Jason fumbled in his pocket for his phone, grabbing it tightly and putting his other hand on his sword. It wasn't like calling for help would do much good, even if he was certain he could get a reliable signal this far out, but it made him feel safer anyways. "We… we should turn back. You know, have backup and a plan."  
Sky nodded grimly. His hand twitched as he rested it near the hilt of the sword sheathed at his hip, but he didn't draw. He wanted Ian and Quentin back immediately, but he knew that impulsiveness would just get more people hurt with nothing to show for it. "Yeah. Let's go home. Now."  
…  
To Mitch's relief, the theater was largely abandoned. Of course, there were still employees inside, but after the sudden disappearance of two people, with blood on the ground and no suspects caught? Nobody really wanted to go, even in broad daylight.  
That probably sucked for the movie theater's bottom line, but it was convenient that Jerome could shift into wolf form in the parking lot without being seen. It took only seconds before Jerome was sniffling at the dried blood and running off into the woods.  
Mitch followed, trying not to feel jealous. He couldn't shift on command; granted, Jerome kept telling him that it was going to get easier with time, but Ty was already getting better at shifting. Soon he would be taking a half-form, then transforming whenever he liked, and Mitch figured he would still be stuck just going fully wolf on full moons only. No matter how much Jerome insisted that Mitch wasn't a slow learner, Ty was just an insanely quick learner, it still stung.  
It wasn't hard to keep up with Jerome, at least. He'd taken a loping pace not unlike a speedwalk. Not so fast that he'd tire himself out before he reached the end of the scent trail, fast enough that he wouldn't waste time getting there. Mitch followed behind, tracing their path on a map the best he could, making sure to glance down at the forest floor to make sure he wasn't about to trip.  
They walked for what felt like hours; the path was full of loops and switchbacks, trying to throw off trackers and lengthening the route by at least two miles. Mitch was having some trouble keeping track of time, though, which might have been a factor. He fell into a almost hypnotic rhythm. Walk, check the compass, mark the map with the best approximation he could of the distance they'd covered. Walk, check, mark. Walk, check, mark. Walk, check, mark… occasionally, he would snap back into attention when he stumbled over a tree root, or saw an useful landmark to put on the map. But the monotony wasn't broken until Jerome stopped suddenly.  
Mitch blinked. "What's wrong?" Jerome shook his head, standing up on two legs and taking a half form.  
"Let me see the map." Jerome said. Mitch obliged, watching Jerome stare at it, muttering something under his breath like he was trying to remember something. He pointed at a gap in the forest, close to where they were. "Isn't this where Seto said the summer camp used to be?"  
Mitch thought for a moment. Seto was the only one of them who had actually grown up in this town. He had told the others about the summer camp he had gone to as a kid, stories of smores and games and arts and crafts interspersed with stories of catastrophic failure. Apparently, the place had started to go really downhill as Seto got older. A new owner had taken over once the old one retired, and was determined to squeeze more of a profit out of a camp that was already barely keeping itself afloat.  
Quite a few people working there were laid off. Theoretically, their positions were opened to volunteers, but, well, there's only so much of a workload you can put on people before they stop wanting to do it for free. The understaffing was enough to make people grumble over the new ownership, but parents approved of promised new and educational activities… until the new program was actually put into place. The "new and educational activities" consisted of replacing most of the summer camp's biggest draws with worksheets, to be completed indoors, with kids required to stay for the full activity time, even though the worksheets were mind-numbingly easy and took only a few minutes to complete.  
Seto's parents were already ready to pull him out of the camp, seeing as they sent him there entirely to make sure he spent time playing outside with his friends. So, Seto only heard rumors about the next part. The camp didn't seem to be making any profit, though the budget kept being cut. It was discovered that the financial manager was siphoning off most the profits into his own bank account, and with everyone left working at the camp exhausted and overworked, nobody had noticed until then that the finances weren’t adding up. He was fired immediately, of course, but in the haste to replace him, the position ended up being taken by someone who had absolutely no experience or training on managing a budget.  
They made a valiant effort, but the camp was closed down after a few more struggling years. The owner tried to sell it, but nobody wanted to even touch the camp after that whole disaster. The campgrounds were abandoned. Nobody had any reason to go so far into the woods, driving on a dirt road that was no longer being maintained at all (or take the hiking trail up, that was hardly used even when the camp was popular), to visit an old campground, especially with its embarrassing end souring any sweet memories of summers spent there. Mitch raised an eyebrow. “Looks like the place. Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”  
“It’s isolated. It’s abandoned. I don’t think any of the buildings were torn down, so there are good places to take shelter from the elements. If I had to find a place to house a large pack without being detected… I’d seriously consider Old Wild Mountains campground.”  
“That’s such a stupid name.”  
“I know.”  
“We don’t even have any mountains.”  
“I know.”  
Mitch sighed. "Do you think we should go check it out? Make sure it actually is a hideout for the rival pack?"  
"I don't know. If we get caught…" Mitch was already moving, sneaking through the undergrowth with surprising speed despite the care he took to be silent. Jerome sighed, following. Mitch could be stealthy when he wanted to, but it was difficult to move quietly in these woods. Mitch was so focused on the ground below his feet, avoiding twigs and dried leaves, that he just barely noticed the campgrounds before he walked right into them. He froze, hoping that he hadn’t been seen.  
Jerome had been right. There were people everywhere; maybe two or three dozen that Mitch could see. That didn’t sound like a lot, but that was big for most packs, and didn’t count anybody indoors. Many people were in human form, but werewolves in half form guarded the entrances to many of the buildings. Mitch and Jerome could hear screaming coming from one of the buildings…  
Mitch grit his teeth, ready to just go and break in now. Jerome held him back. He was growling quietly, but shook his head. “If we just charge in now, we’re going to die.” Jerome whispered.  
“Someone’s being hurt-”  
“And we can’t do anything about it. At least we know where they are now. But we have to leave, before we get caught.”  
Mitch sucked in a breath, casting a furious glare in the direction of the screams. Still, he turned, walking back into the woods as quickly as he dared. It hurt, being so close to where his friends were being held, knowing they were in pain, and not being able to do anything about it.  
But they knew where they were now. They had a map that led them right to the place. And sooner or later, they’d have a plan to get Quentin and Ian out of this mess alive. Sooner or later, they’d have revenge against the people who hurt them.  
...  
Ty's memories of his full moons had once been frustratingly blurry, but he was grateful that time and training cleared up old memories as well as making new ones stick between forms. If not for that, he might not have been able to find the cave.  
He couldn't help but feel unsettled, though he tried to put on a brave face for Seto's benefit. Ty prided himself on a sense of constant calm and smugness, but that didn't mean he was an idiot. He knew exactly how it would go if he and Seto ran into a real fight.  
Ty had a dagger gripped in one hand, and would have a second dagger in the other if Seto wasn't squeezing it tightly. The sorcerer was mumbling under his breath, checking his memory for the words to spells. Ty wasn't quite familiar with the dead languages and esoteric codes often used for spells, but he recognized a bit of what Seto was saying. Spells for shielding. Spells for hiding. Spells for attacking.  
Ty felt half-reassured that he and Seto together could defend themselves, half-not soothed at all by the quiet chanting in a deep, dark forest as they walked slowly towards a place potentially filled with danger. Thankfully, Seto shut up in favor of stealth as the cave came into view. Ty could smell the faint stench of dried blood. The smell was faded and old, but it made Ty’s stomach turn at the thought of it fresh.  
He and Seto edged closer to the cave, ready to strike at any sudden movement. Nothing seemed to be there. Seto let out a sigh of relief, giving Ty a grin that the werefox returned. Still, Ty stuck to the wall of the cave as he crept inside, not wanting to silhouette himself against the light of the cave entrance. On the off chance there actually was someone in here, the last thing he wanted to be was a highly visible target.  
His foot landed on something that crunched beneath his weight. He froze up for a second, heart beating quickly. Slowly, he looked down. It was a small bone. He eased his foot off of it, letting Seto lean over and see. “Looks like a rabbit’s leg, if I had to guess.” Seto whispered.  
“Why are there rabbit bones here? That’s gross. You know, I want to come back here once that pack is gone. I don’t want to have to pick up a bunch of little dead things. Really going to kill the victorious mood.” Ty hissed. Seto frowned, leaving the wall and walking deeper into the cave, scanning the floor.  
“Yeah, sorry Ty. Lot more rabbits. Couple of squirrels, I think. Those are definitely mice. And there are a bunch of broken ones I’m not so sure about, but I’m pretty sure it’s all small rodents. Look on the bright side, none of these have any meat left on them, so that’ll make cleaning it all up… slightly less gross.”  
Ty followed Seto, careful not to step on any bones and make a bigger mess. "Why dump bones here? They've dismembered a lot of skeletons out in the woods where people can find them."  
"I think it's an intimidation thing, honestly. When people see a deer stripped down to bone and flung around, that says something about the size of the pack and the ferocity of its members. You don't feel particularly afraid of someone because they killed and ate a squirrel. Any dog can do that."  
Almost none of the stuff they had kept in this cave was still intact. Just about everything had been knocked to the ground, torn or crushed, makeshift shelves hanging sadly off the walls with their contents smashed beneath them. Ty didn't spend enough time here to really form an attachment, but if Jerome had been using this cave since they all moved in together… well, he'd been here for years, and the cave had certainly felt like Jerome cared about the place. Ty wrinkled his nose, picking up a spare set of clothes that had been apparently used as a napkin after eating one of the unfortunate critters eaten here. It would take a while to clean up here…  
Seto sighed. "Well, there are signs of life. Some of these bones look and smell fresher than the others. But given that this place just seems to be a place to stash the remains of snacks-" Seto didn't really get a chance to finish that sentence, as he was tackled and knocked to the floor by a figure that sprang suddenly from the shadows.  
With a shouted word and a quick gesture, Seto threw a shimmering purple shield over his face, just in time to block the knife jabbing down towards his eye. The simple spell began to crack under the force behind the knife. Seto kicked his attacker off of him and rolled, springing back up to his feet.  
He needed a few seconds to properly cast more powerful spells. Thankfully, Ty was here to buy him those seconds. Ty darted forward, and the stranger's eyes widened at the flash of silver in his hands.  
It was hard to describe the stranger as anything but scrawny. Still, he managed to slash at Ty's hand hard enough to knock him away and cause him to miss. Ty grit his teeth, drawing another dagger and launching into a furious assault.  
There was only so many strikes that could be blocked, with one knife against two daggers. Ty managed to slash across the stranger's face, leaving a gash over his eye. It wasn't a deep or particularly dangerous wound, but blood flowed freely from it. The stranger screamed in panic as the blood hit his eye, temporarily blinding him. Ty jumped back, giving Seto space to cast a spell without hitting him too.  
Thick ropes appeared out of thin air, wrapping tightly around the stranger. He screamed, wriggling uselessly and trying to free himself as Seto walked calmly over. Seto knelt down, placing a hand over the crimson line on his face. "Sorry about that, but you didn't leave us much choice." He muttered, the wound healing. "Now, we've got a lot of questions, but I feel like we should start nice and easy. What's your name?" The stranger glared, and spat in Seto's face.  
Seto didn't flinch, just glanced over at Ty. Oh. Ty grinned. He's the bad cop. Ty laughed, spinning a silver dagger. He flung it up in the air, kneeling down in front of the stranger. Without looking up, Ty caught the dagger before it hit the ground, the point inches from the stranger's eye. "Now, I believe my friend asked you a question…"  
Seto raised an eyebrow at Ty, giving him a look that Ty knew meant that his whole display was a little over the top. Or maybe that was the look that meant Ty was going to get himself hurt if he kept playing with sharp objects. They were very similar looks. Whatever the case, the stranger looked throughly intimidated. "...My name's David." He mumbled, trying to lean away from Ty's dagger as much as he could.  
"Nice to meet you, David." Seto said, notably offering neither his own name or Ty's. "Now, what were you doing in our cave?"  
David took a moment to process that before realization flashed in his eyes. "You're from the pack who used to live here?"  
Seto nodded. "Yes."  
David sneered, though his look got a little less hostile as Ty checked the point on his dagger. "I'll speak to your alpha then, not their cronies."  
Seto glanced at Ty. "Do we… do we have an alpha?"  
"I don't know. If we do, it hasn't been mentioned to me yet."  
"It was just Jerome for a long time, maybe it just hasn't been decided yet who's in charge? Or do we even need to have an alpha in the first place?"  
Ty shrugged. "I mean, the whole alpha thing was based of some kind of flawed study of captive wolves, I think. Don’t wolves live in family groups in the wild? And the closest thing they really have to alphas are the parents? Jerome isn’t our dad.”  
"Well, obviously werewolf packs aren't always strictly analogous to werewolf packs. You can't shove a fox, a raven, and a human into a pack with two wolves. With weres though…"  
"Okay, fair point. Still, it feels really weird to call Jerome our alpha."  
"He's been a werewolf for the longest. Maybe that makes him the alpha by default?" Seto suggested. David was staring at the two of them now, completely confused.  
"Eh…" Ty hissed, uncertain.  
"He grew up in a pack, at least. That makes him at least more qualified than us to deal with a rival pack, right?"  
"That makes sense. David, are you cool with talking to Jerome?" Ty asked, turning to the bewildered prisoner.  
"Um… I guess…?" David said hesitantly.  
Ty nodded. "Sounds good, then. Now we've just got to regroup with the others. And bring David with us somehow."  
"Ah, you could untie me! Just my legs, at the very least, of course. Promise I won't run…" David said hopefully.  
Seto raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. No. Ty, you grab the legs and I'll take the arms, I think we can carry him if we work together… provided you don't mind if we drop him occasionally."


	10. Absolutely nothing goes wrong

To David's dismay, Jerome and Mitch were the last of the pairs to return.   
Obviously, David hadn't been allowed too close to the home of the smaller pack. Just in case he managed to get away, return to his pack and his alpha and spill everything his alpha needed to know to have the potential threats killed. David would absolutely leap at the chance to get away and tell his alpha, even without knowing exactly where the smaller pack lived- they were close enough that the others, returning home, could be intercepted and told where to go, and it couldn’t be that hard to search the nearby area- if stress didn’t sometimes trigger his shifting. And this was a very stressful situation.  
He could feel the scales prickling beneath his skin, his teeth sharpening and swelling with venom. If his legs fused into a tail… he rarely fully shifted at times like these, and he needed to be fully shifted in order to really effectively slither. Sure, he’d gotten pretty decent recently with taking a mobile half-form, but his involuntary stress-fueled shifts didn’t care much for the precisive anatomical details and tweaks that let him move. It was bad enough that his shifting was so unstable, but that applied to every one of the alpha’s experiments. But ending up stuck in place basically whenever he got too upset? That was enough to get him labelled as a failure and an omega.   
This other pack didn’t need to know that, though. Thankfully, he seemed to be barely shifting. If it was just his teeth and a few scales, then nobody needed to know that he wasn’t doing it on purpose. “Sso, when will your alpha sshow up?” David asked, hoping that the one guarding him didn’t notice the slight hiss to his voice.   
The guard glanced back at him. David hadn’t been given any names, but the guard was the one with the headphones who had threatened him with the silver dagger. The guard shrugged, glancing down at his phone. “Not much longer now. He just showed up back home, Seto says he’ll be here as quickly as possible.” The guard gave David a threatening glance, tinged with a bit of nervousness. “You can’t call him our alpha. Or talk about us being weres.”  
“Well, I don’t really want to question the guy with the silver, but why not?”  
“...One of our friends… he doesn’t know that we’re weres. He hates weres, actually.”  
“Huh.” David said, quickly calculating as many ways as he could to turn this to his advantage.  
“Say anything to him and I’ll stab you. Trust me, I’ll be keeping a close eye on you, and you won’t get a moment alone to tell him.”  
David winced. There goes most of his plans. “Fine. ...I am curious though… if he’s a threat to your pack, why don’t you just kill him?”  
“...I guess you could consider him to be part of our pack, in a way. At the very least, he’s our friend. We don’t want him hurt, or even scared. Why do you think we still keep it a secret, when we outnumber him in a fight?”  
David went silent. This was a really weird pack, if they included and protected someone who didn’t like weres. He was going to ask more questions, but he shut up when he heard people approaching. The guard’s sorcerer friend, leading four more people. David stared, trying to figure out which one of them was Jerome, as well as which one was the one who hated weres.   
That first question, he found out the answer to rather easily. Jerome was the one the guard walked up to, whispering in his ear. Jerome's eyes widened in shock, before narrowing into a glare as he turned to David. Jerome wasn't quite as big and powerful-looking as David expected, but he was enough to make David flinch.   
Jerome walked over, crouching down so his face was right in front of David's. Jerome didn't bother wasting time. "What. Are you doing. To my friends." He growled.  
"I-I'm not sure what you're talking about-"  
"IAN AND QUENTIN! YOU KIDNAPPED THEM, AND I FOUND YOUR CAMP AND HEARD SCREAMING! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THEM?" Jerome yelled, furious.  
David yelped. "We aren't killing them!" ...The second those words came out of his mouth, he realized how suspicious they sounded. He saw the people around him exchanging horrified looks before turning towards him in anger.   
Jerome growled. "What are you doing, then?"  
"The… the alpha is fond of… experiments. He's fascinated by how people can become weres, and what kinds of weres it's possible to become. Sometimes… sometimes he takes humans, and he tries to artificially induce a transformation. It… it usually takes a couple of tries, and it doesn't always turn out as intended, and it hurts a lot…"  
Jerome's eyes flared in rage and terror, before he smothered those feelings. It wouldn't do Ian and Quentin any good to waste time panicking. He was about to ask another question when someone else spoke up. "How long?"  
David looked over at who had spoken. He was shorter than most of the others, and a little chubby, but David could see more than enough muscle to make ignoring him feel like a bad idea. "How long? How long does it take?" He repeated, tense.  
Jerome looked back. "Sky, we're already going to save them as quickly as we can. Knowing won't do anything but add more pressure-"  
"I want to know." Sky said firmly. David glanced nervously between Jerome and Sky, uncertain of who to listen to.  
"...It varies by a lot. Turning weres without the bite of another is really difficult to do intentionally. Some methods work for some, but not for others. The alpha has been getting better at it, though. It used to take a month, but… I'd say a fortnight if you're lucky, a day or two if you're not." It had taken a week for David. He thought. He was told it was a week between when he was brought into the pack and when he became a weresnake, but the agony had seemed endless. The venom burning through his veins, drunk and injected and brewed into potions at various dilutions and at various times, the rough scales bound tight against raw, bleeding skin, the cold of nights spent outside on the full moon, where efforts were redoubled.   
The alpha didn't like repeating experiments he'd already succeeded in, at least. Ian and Quentin were unlikely to go through the exact same thing David had. So, no point in giving out the details, right? He watched the smaller pack consider what he had said. Finally, Jerome stood. "...We ought to get going now. Before night falls. Even if some are already in half-form now, we don't want to be there when everyone transforms and smells us."  
The others nodded. The excuse was weak; a single guard, even transformed just enough to sharpen their senses, would be enough to sniff them out, no full moon needed. But nobody had the time to question Jerome's logic. "We'll figure out what to do with you later." Jerome growled back at David as they left.  
Sky lagged behind the others. He paused, turning back when nobody was looking. David blinked in confusion as Sky came back to him, looking at David with a serious look on his face. "If we let you go, will you help us save our friends?"  
David raised an eyebrow. "You say 'we', but you came back alone. This wasn't a group decision. Easier to ask forgiveness than permission, I assume?"  
Sky flinched. "Look. I just want to help my friends. Ever since I met them, I've been doing everything I can to keep them safe. I'll be the first to admit that my precautions have their flaws. Flaws that got Jason bitten by a vampire, which is pretty horrible regardless of whether or not he turns. I don't want my friends to be turned into weres, I can't have that on my conscience."  
Ah. This was the one who didn't like weres. David shrugged. "Yeah, sure, I can help you out. But… the alpha will kill me if I get caught, so I need some kind of incentive."   
Sky glared. "Fine. What'll it take?"  
"I want my alpha dead." David's answer surprised even himself. But it was true; he resented being an omega. Subservient to everyone else, forced to carry out whatever orders anyone above him felt like giving, constantly half-starved as he ate whatever small things he could catch without anyone noticing and taking it from him. He hadn't even wanted to be in this pack in the first place.  
Sky nodded. "Well, lucky for you our goals align. I'm not feeling too fond of the bastard who took my friends." With that, he started cutting at the ropes binding David. "Hope you understand if I don't free your hands. I'm not a complete idiot, and I don't really trust you."   
"That's fine." David muttered, already thinking of ways to free himself.  
…  
"Sky? What did you do?" Mitch said as he saw Sky and David approaching. The others turned to look as well, taking on expressions of mixed shock and exasperation.  
"He's going to help us free Ian and Quentin, and all we have to do is kill the alpha. I mean, we were probably going to do that anyways, right?"  
"Not if we didn't have to." Jerome growled. Mitch gently touched his friend's shoulder, leaning against him.  
"Hey," Mitch whispered. "I know stealth is the name of the game here, but seriously, things aren't going to get any better if we don't act now. What's stopping them from just kidnapping more people, if we don't do something to stop it? Not saying we have to murder a guy, but…"  
Jerome looked over his friends, whispering back to Mitch. "We're not exactly heavy on firepower."  
"Well… do we need to fight the whole pack? How does this alpha thing generally go? Are there probably a couple of people competing for the spot?"  
Jerome sighed. "A lot of packs don't go by anything like that. As it turns out, fostering a culture centered around fear-based dominance and violence, and making harming others the only real path to any sort of advancement… well, it doesn't make for very stable social structures. Basically every pack nowadays has a looser, more informal structure with a lot less focus on dominance. Larger packs will develop a sort of hierarchy over time, but it's more "I know I can go to this person if something bad happens" and less "this is the alpha, obey or else". So, long story short, I would guess that not everyone is happy with the alpha, but I don't have any experience with that sort of thing."   
Mitch thought for a moment, looking over their group. "If we're sneaky enough about it, maybe we can get to the alpha without anyone noticing. I mean, he's probably real tough, but he's just one guy, right?"  
"I hope it's really that easy." Jerome muttered. The others had clustered around Sky and David, furiously debating. Mitch pushed his way into the conversation as Jerome just watched in dismay.  
Nobody was happy about this. But, at the same time, nobody wanted to give up any possible aid in helping Ian and Quentin. Reluctantly, they all agreed to bring David with them.   
Nobody spoke to Sky on the way up to the campgrounds, though. Sky wasn't a complete idiot, and Mitch could tell by the look on his face that he knew that even if the others were going with the plan, they were furious that he had pushed them into it. Mitch could understand Sky's willingness to take this risk, but he was pretty annoyed that Sky didn't bother to talk about it with everyone.  
They came to the camp. They moved quickly and quietly around the perimeter, searching for their friends. "Tell me where Ian and Quentin are." Jerome whispered to David.  
"They'll be kept separately. I'm not very involved in the process of making new weres, so I'm not completely certain where they are, but I'll know the place when I see it." David said quietly. As silently as they all could, they circled the camp until David whispered "Stop."  
They all did, and David pointed to a building. It was small and rundown, but guarded by two half-shifted guards with swords at their sides. Mitch waited to hear the screaming that he had heard earlier, but it was silent. Seto was the first to act. He crept forward smoothly and silently, and the guards didn't notice him until he was mere feet away and whispering a spell.   
The guards crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Seto wobbled on his feet, nearly falling as well before Mitch caught him. "Thank you." Seto mumbled weakly, gasping for breath. "Knocking people out that fast takes a lot of energy…"  
"Are you alright?" Mitch asked. Seto nodded weakly. The others approached. Ty asked how long the guards would be out, and Seto's answer was vague and uncertain. Pretty sure they would be out for long enough.  
They snuck inside, careful not to make noise that would alarm other guards in nearby areas. The space was dimly lit by cracks in the wooden walls, and the edges of covered windows where light seeped through. Mitch could make out the shape of someone huddled on the floor. He thought they were silent at first, but as he approached he could hear a quiet sound.  
Laughter.  
It was a high, breathless giggling, pained and sharp. Mitch didn’t know if he’d ever heard a sound quite like that coming from a human being before, and it unnerved him. He couldn’t help but let out a tiny whimper. The figure’s head shot up, and it took a moment for Mitch to recognize Ian.  
He was bruised and scratched, blood dried on his face and his clothes torn and splattered with dirt. He’d obviously been dragged through the woods and some point, and hadn’t been treated well when he arrived at the camp. Alone, that wouldn’t have been so bad- by this point, Mitch had expected him to be hurt a lot more badly- if not for the look in his eyes. Frantic and terrified, out of his mind with pain and fear, and something almost feral.  
Ian scrambled back, laughing increasing suddenly in volume. The terrified look in his eyes didn’t suggest that he was laughing because he found any of this funny. With his panic and the dim lighting, Ian didn’t seem to recognize any of them.   
Ian flinched violently when Mitch stepped closer. “D-D-Don’t touch me!” He yelled furiously, followed by another wave of intense laughter. Mitch could see David tense out of the corner of his eye, as David realized something that the others hadn’t yet.   
David was whispering that they really ought to just leave now, don’t get any closer, but Mitch ignored him. He took another step, hands up. “Ian, it’s okay. I’m not one of them, I don’t want to hurt you-”  
Ian wasn’t listening. He sprung to his feet with surprising speed, snapping the ropes around his legs (frayed from earlier escape attempts, Mitch realized later) and ran for the exit, pushing Mitch to the ground as he did. The others were too stunned to react for a moment, before they heard Ian scream outside. They rushed out and saw that he had been caught by two passing guards, guards who immediately turned to look at them.   
The guards started yelling for backup, and suddenly there were people running at them from all directions. For a second, they were all frozen with shock. Things had gone from bad to worse so suddenly it had caught them off guard. By the time they started running, it was too late. They scattered in all directions, but there were just too many people in the way to make it back to the relative safety of the forest. Mitch had the clearest shot, and he ran for the forest. Maybe he’d make it back to the town, maybe he’d be able to get help-   
The last thing he felt was someone hitting him hard on the head, before the world went dark.


	11. Structure based on dominance through violence prone to violent power struggles, who could have possibly guessed

Consciousness came back to them all slowly.

Jason was one of the last to stir awake. His body felt way too light, and his head buzzed like a hive full of bees. He felt feverish, and acutely aware of the dying sunlight that pushed a migraine into his brain. His throat was bone dry and his stomach growled with hunger even as he felt like throwing up. Had he been somehow drugged while he was knocked out?

His vision was blurry, but slowly came back into focus. He lifted his head, focusing on the shape that paced back and forth in front of him until he could make out details. A man. Maybe in his late 20s. Definitely a werewolf, judging by the ears and tail shifted onto an otherwise human form; showing off a bit. Based on his posture and the clear confidence on his face, and the way the other werewolves seemed to shrink back when he approached, this was the alpha. He smelled nice. Warm, salty, full of life. Jason groaned quietly in misery as the pain in his throat spiked. He had a toothache now as well…

He was tied up, hands behind his back and to a post. He could feel the others pressed around him, and he turned to look at them. Almost all seemed to be waking up too; Sky must have been hit the hardest, he was still out. Jason panicked for a moment, but then he saw that Sky was still breathing. Ian wasn't there. David wasn't either, and when Jason turned to the crowd gathered around them, he saw David looking at him with a sheepish grin. Jason glared back at David. He heard an impatient snap, and he turned back to the alpha. The alpha smiled. "So you're the pack that used to live in this forest. I was hoping to meet you all sooner or later…"

"What do you want from us?" Jason heard Ty ask. His voice didn't sound quite right. Jason turned to look at Ty. He must have bitten his tongue or gotten a tooth knocked out when he was captured; there was a trickle of blood running from his mouth. Jason stared, fixated on the slow flow of red.

"Oh, I'm just curious about you." The alpha said, snapping Jason out of his trance. He continued to talk, still pacing. "You're an interesting blend of different types of weres. I smelled it in your cave. I was hoping to get ahold of you all earlier, but apparently, you don't actually live in these woods. You've all decided to cower within the weakness that is humanity." The alpha said with a sneer, the seriousness of the situation undercut by Seto's little snort of laughter at the dramatics. Suddenly, there was a silver knife at Seto's throat. With a sinking feeling, Jason realized his pockets were lighter now than when he came here; they must have all been stripped of their weapons. "Do not. Laugh. At the alpha." The alpha snarled. Nobody spoke or moved. The weapon lightly touched Seto's throat, and though without enough force to draw blood, Jason could hear the sizzling as it burned him. Seto was very still and wide-eyed, visibly stifling a scream as he tried not to move and risk the knife slicing his throat. "No more interruptions? Good." The alpha said, taking the knife away. "Now. I'm quite interested in the mechanics of a were's turning; who can become what, and how. As I said, you're an interesting blend of quite a few types. Unfortunately, I can't quite tell what you are yet. However, the full moon is barely half an hour away! So I wait, and I see what you are. Those species I haven't recreated get to tell me how you turned- willingly or through torture, I'm not picky- and those I have will die."

Jason knew that this was serious. Even in the best case scenario, they definitely had werewolves. Jerome and Mitch would die, and he and Sky would likely be killed too if they weren't experimented on like Ian and Quentin. The others would be tortured until they gave up the secrets to turn others against their will. This was a life and death situation, and there was no way out that Jason could see. But he just couldn't concentrate.

He was just so thirsty. The alpha was still talking, but none of it registered in Jason's mind. It was unbearable… he needed to drink, needed it now. But there was nothing to drink. He closed his eyes, head pounding like someone was striking it with a hammer. Heavy, rhythmic pounding like a pulse. Everything smelled like blood, and he couldn't think about anyone else. And the alpha wouldn't. Stop. Talking. It was hard to make out what he was saying over the ringing in Jason's ears, but whatever it was, he couldn't stand the sound. A hiss curled its way from Jason's mouth. He was so thirsty, so, so thirsty, and the alpha wouldn't _shut up_\- His eyes snapped open, his vision went red, and he lunged at the alpha as the ropes holding him back snapped.

…

Jerome just stared in shock for a few moments after Jason lunged. It was so sudden; one second Jason was tied up with the rest of them, the next he had the alpha pinned to the ground, struggling to latch onto the alpha's throat as the alpha tried to fight him off. "Don't just stand there, help me!" The alpha screamed. Someone ran forward to help, but immediately, someone else stabbed that person in the side. The crowd was thrown suddenly into chaos, some running to help the alpha, some fighting the alpha's allies. In the confusion, as nearly everyone joined the growing fight, David ran over and began sawing at Jerome's ropes with a knife.

"What the hell was that!?" David hissed.

"I don't… I don't know…" Jerome said, numb with shock.

David sighed. "Okay, so here's how this goes. I made a deal with Ylva- she's been looking to take over as the alpha for a while now, and growing some pretty serious support- and told her that if she moved the pack somewhere else when she took over, you'd give her an opportunity to take control. But I didn't expect anything like this! Why the hell didn't you mention that your friend was a vampire!?"

"I didn't know!" Jerome said, as David sawed at the others' ropes.

David rolled his eyes. "Sure you didn't. You're not going to want to stick around; Ylva knows what she's doing. She can finish this without you, now that you've given her an opening. Get your friends, and get out." David said. He cut Sky loose, frowning when he realized Sky was still unconscious. "Probably get him out of here before you go looking for Ian and Quentin."

Jerome nodded, picking Sky up. "I'll make sure he's somewhere safe."

"Better hurry. Full moon's almost here." David noted. Jerome ran. He didn't look back, just charging into the woods as quickly as he possibly could. He didn't want Sky to see his friends transformed, and he definitely didn't want Sky close to the vicious fight over who was alpha. As he ran, he could feel the full moon already tugging at him, urging him to shift. He felt Sky stirring in his arms.

"Wha…" Sky's eyes widened when he realized the moon was about to rise. He wriggled in Jerome's arms, trying to get out. "Oh, god, Jerome, let me go, please you have to-"

"Sky," Jerome said, putting Sky down. "You need to run. Don't worry, everything's going to be okay, but I need you to trust me. Stay away from the campground. If you can, go home, but whatever you do, stay somewhere safe. I don't want you to get killed."

Sky let out a shuddering breath. "And what if you get killed?" He asked, but Jerome could already tell there wasn't much fight in him. The hit to the head must have been hard to knock him out for so long, Sky probably wasn't in any position to fight.

Jerome held Sky's hands tightly. "I won't. Stay safe." He let go, running away back towards the campground. As soon as he was out of Sky's sight, he let the moon take him. He shifted as he ran, running to find his friends.

…

Ian couldn't stop laughing. He couldn't help it; the sound poured unbidden from his throat, even as tears streamed down his face. The pack seemed to dislike keeping their experiments together, but they'd moved both him and Quentin to another building, fitted with makeshift cells, after Ian's escape attempt. He felt like an idiot for that now; Quentin had tried to reassure him that he didn't know any better, he was scared out of his mind in a dark room, no wonder he couldn't immediately recognize his friends, but Ian still felt that he and Quentin would be free by now if he hadn't run. He could feel the full moon rising, even in the darkness of the cell. He felt Quentin's hand reach through the bars, holding his own. The quiet reassurance and comfort was enough to get Ian to stop laughing, though he could feel the webbing starting to grow between Quentin's fingers.

"I think I can get us out of here." Quentin whispered.

"Really? How?"

"I think when I've shifted enough, I can slip through the bars. I know I'm not exactly the smallest of guys, but they're not making me into a werewolf or a werebear or whatever, there's probably going to be more shrinking than growing when I shift. That, and I'm pretty flexible… I think I can slip through the bars, grab the keys and unlock your cell. I probably won't have opposable thumbs by the time I do all that, but I can figure something out."

Ian thought for a moment. It wasn't like they had any better solutions. He could feel himself starting to shift too; they didn't have much time left to plan. He was fairly certain that weres of different types could communicate, but in the confusion and forgetfulness of a first transformation it wouldn't matter. He nodded. "Yeah. It's worth a shot."

…

Mitch bit down on the back of the werebadger's neck, tearing them off of Ty and shaking them vigorously before flinging them away, to lay stunned on the ground. Ty shakily got back to his feet, whimpering a thanks. It was difficult, as it turned out, to find Ian and Quentin in an increasingly chaotic and violent scene. Every second that passed increased the danger, and Mitch was starting to worry that they had been somehow caught in the crossfire. They'd checked every building they could, but hadn't seen a trace of Ian and Quentin. The only thing that gave any clues was a former mess hall, lined with cheap cages, all empty, and one with a door hanging wide open. So they were searching for Ian and Quentin, with no real certainty that they were turned or still human, no idea what kind of weres they were if they were turned, no clue where they were, hoping Ian and Quentin would recognize them in that first transformation where everything human is forgotten, hoping they would recognize Ian and Quentin in unfamiliar forms, hoping that Ian and Quentin hadn't been caught in the battle and torn apart.

Mitch paused, sniffing the air. He could smell something in the distance, approaching fast. There was a smell of sweat and dirt from nearly 24 hours at this point wandering an unfamiliar landscape. There was a smell Mitch recognized from the clothes and blankets and other miscellaneous comforts brought to the cave, the distinctive smell of humans. And with it, a scent that set off instinctive alarms in Mitch's head, the sharp, metallic scent of silver. He growled in fear. Ty looked confused for a moment, then he caught the scent too. "Search faster." Ty whimpered, before taking off. Mitch followed without hesitation. Great time for the werewolf hunters to finally show up…

…

Seto flew well above the campground, searching from a relatively safe position. The alpha's experiments seemed to focus on mammals and reptiles, and there weren't any other avian weres here. Seto wanted to fight, but although he'd been able to retain just about all human memories this shift, spell casting remained frustratingly blurry. Without his spells, he was easily the most fragile of the group. So he was stuck, flying above the camp turned battleground, watching the blurs of fur and splashes of blood, trying to distinguish his friends and ensure they were safe. Not that he could do anything about it if they weren't…

He flew lower at the sound of a loud hiss. Jason seemed to have been winning his wrestle with the alpha. Even now that the alpha was now a wolf much larger and stronger with much more fur protecting his neck, Jason held on tight where the alpha's jaws couldn't reach and the frantic pawing wouldn't dislodge him. Jason was biting at the alpha's neck, trying to get a mouthful that was more blood than fur. Seto could see the moment Jason finally found that bite, fangs sinking deep and not letting go even as the alpha's struggles intensified. Jason sucked greedily, not slowing until someone ran up, seizing Jason roughly by the neck and throwing him away from the alpha. Jason bounced, once, twice, then rolled to a stop.

Seto flew down to him with a caw of panic. Jason moaned quietly, wincing back when Seto poked him with a talon, but he made no attempt to get up. Jason was extremely lucky that nobody seemed to really care about him now that he was off the alpha. Without Jason in the way, the fight was no longer about keeping the alpha's allies from prying Jason off, it was about killing the alpha. Seto could see Jerome running nearby, and he cawed loudly to bring Jerome's attention over to Jason. Jerome froze; Jason was lying so still. He'd gotten quite a bit of blood splashed over himself when struggling with the alpha, which didn't help. Jerome sprinted over, shifting to half form and picking Jason up. Jason moved a bit when he did so, opening his eyes for a moment, trying to focus on Jerome before giving up as his eyes slid back closed. Jerome whimpered, holding Jason tightly and running away to find somewhere safe to put him down.

Seto took back to the air. At least Jason was out of harm's way; theoretically, at least. There was still the whole vampire thing to deal with, and Seto hoped he would have the time to do research before confronting Jason. As Seto circled above, he noticed something new coming in from the edge of the forest. He flew down and landed on an nearby tree, watching the werewolf hunters. They had clustered into a small group, huddled and whispering. As Seto watched, they split up, headed to different sections of the campground. Must be scouting out the area and situation before they made their move. Seto decided to follow the hunters' leader.

He seemed a lot more nervous than Seto had expected. He wondered how many hunts he had gone on. Maybe, separated from the other hunters and alone with his thoughts, the leader was starting to seriously think about the gravity of what he planned to do. Kill or be killed, with little chance to leave at this point. Whatever the hunter was thinking at this point, he was gripping a silver sword tightly. It was heavy and sharp, but didn't have much reach. It left no room for error. Seto heard a rustling from the bushes ahead, and saw the hunter freeze. Running from the camp came two weres; an otter, clinging to the back of a hyena. There were no real distinguishing marks to identify them- maybe the faintest impression of a suit on the pattern of the otter's fur, a splash of darker fur around the hyena's eyes that might resemble sunglasses if you squint- but Seto was instantly certain that he was looking at Quentin and Ian.

Ian froze, staring at the hunter. Seto could see the panic in Ian's eyes, the disorientation and confusion. Quentin slid off of Ian's back onto the ground in anticipation of a fight, growling. Ian let out a peal of cackling laughter, a sound unsettling enough that the hunter took a step back. Ian and the hunter stared at each other, waiting for someone to make a move. The hunter took a deep breath, steadying himself, and lunged. Seto dove, talons scratching the hunter's face. His sword missed, and Ian bit deep into the hunter's leg.

The hunter screamed, pain turning to terror as he realized the implications of being bitten by a were. Ian hardly flinched at the sound, adrenaline and animal instinct overriding sympathy, until Seto swooped close to his face and startled him enough to make him let go. The hunter stumbled back, staring in horror. He only hesitated for a second before he ran away. Seto watched the hunter run. He was almost curious about how the other hunters would react, knowing their leader had been bitten. Mostly, Seto just cared that Quentin and Ian were safe.

There was still that animalistic look in Ian's eyes, but he didn't growl or attack as Seto landed on the ground in front of him. He tilted his head, mind trying to make a connection his brain couldn't handle at the moment. He lay down, head resting on his paws as he sniffed Seto curiously. Seto wasn't certain if Ian understood the cawing command to stay, but he and Ian didn't get up, just watched when Seto flew away. He flew over the campground, cawing for his friends. Every one of them was safe for now, they needed to leave before that stopped being the case. Thankfully, nobody seemed to really notice when they slipped away. Quentin and Ian didn't run when the rest of the pack approached, instinct reassuring them they were with friends.

The two followed as they all headed home, moving as quickly as they could without being heard. They found Jerome still looking for someplace to put Jason down. They decided pretty quickly that it was best to just head home. They couldn't be certain the woods were safe yet, and the cave was still a mess. Their house was the only safe place to go. Seto realized only when they were almost at the house that Sky had been told to go home. He didn't know how Sky would react to all of them showing up transformed. Seto was absolutely certain that they would have to tell him soon. He was the only human left in the group, how could they keep it a secret for long? Still, every plan considered involved breaking the news… in much different circumstances. Circumstances that gave Sky time to process, rather than just showing up unannounced fully transformed while Sky was hiding from a pack of weres.

As it turned out, Seto didn't need to be so worried. Sky wasn't home. Of course, that wasn't really comforting under the circumstances. Jerome practically turned the house upside down searching for him, and tore out of the house when he couldn't find any trace of Sky. As Jerome ran, he barked back a plea for everyone to stay right where they were until he got back. Nobody felt inclined to argue. They were safe here, and couldn't say the same for anywhere else. Ian yawned and lay down, Quentin curled up against him. Seto sighed as much as he could as a bird, looking around at the house full of weres, scratched and bruised from the fight in the campgrounds, Jason unconscious on the couch with blood dripping from his mouth and Sky completely missing. There would be a lot to explain to Quentin and Ian in the morning...


	12. Consequences

"SKY!" Jerome screamed, running through the woods. The sun had risen. Jerome had been searching and searching everywhere between where he left Sky and their house. With every passing second, he grew more terrified that Sky was dead. Maybe he had been torn to pieces if he went the wrong direction, or the battle spilled from the campgrounds. Maybe he had been attacked by a wild animal. Maybe he had stumbled in the dark and drowned in the river. "SKY! SKY, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"I'm over here." Jerome whirled around to find the source of the noise. He saw Sky stumbling through the trees. He was soaking wet, his eyes dull and face blank with shock. Jerome ran towards Sky, hugging him tightly.

"I thought you were dead!" Jerome sobbed.

"...Mmhm." Sky said. "Are the others okay?"

"A little scratched, a little bruised, but we all made it out alive."

"Anyone bit?"

"No." Jerome said quickly. Technically it was only sort of a lie, there had been a few bites, but easily hidden and shallow enough to be inconsequential. What Sky meant was had anyone been turned, and obviously that-

"What about Quentin and Ian?"

Jerome tensed. "They're fine."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying-" 

"Ian pushed Mitch over. I guess it could just be that Mitch wasn't expecting it, but Mitch is usually way stronger than Ian. Those weres did something to him."

Jerome sighed. "...Yeah. The experiments worked. Ian's a werehyena, Quentin's a wereotter." 

Normally, Sky was a pretty open book, but Jerome couldn't read the look on his face right now. "...Let's go home." Sky finally said, staring at the ground.

Jerome nodded, taking Sky's hand. He started to walk with him back home, hoping everything would turn out okay when he did.

…

Jason woke at sunrise. The rays of light crept through his window, gently flowing into his room and up onto his bed. His eyes snapped open, the sound of sizzling flesh filling the air. 

He yelped in pain, pulling himself under a blanket. It was dark and safe, the weak light impenetrable for now. He heard footsteps, and could feel the sunlight leaving his room as the curtains drew shut. "Oh my god, Jason, I'm so sorry, I forgot to close them when I brought you inside!" Jason poked his head out of the blanket, looking at Seto. 

Seto had just shifted back, judging by the small feathers still clinging to his skin. Jason blinked, surprised by how much detail he could see in the near-complete darkness of his room. The tiny blood vessels, swollen and turning the whites of Seto's eyes red with exhaustion. This slight rise and fall of his chest. The veins on his wrists and neck, where Jason could almost feel, even from across the room, the pulse pumping blood through them.

Jason opened his mouth very slightly, the scent of blood trapped under skin playing along the roof of his mouth. He could hear Seto's heartbeat quicken. "Jason?" Seto asked, a poorly-hidden nervous edge to his voice.

"Yeah?"

"How much do you remember of last night?" 

"Um… I remember we were trying to save Quentin and Ian. I remember we got caught, and we got tied up, and I… I…" Jason's eyes widened. He covered his mouth with a hand in shock, even as his tongue poked at his sharp fangs. He fumbled for his wrist, but he found no pulse.

Jason whimpered, and Seto nodded grimly. "I'm sorry, Jason. You're a vampire."

Jason didn't know what to say. A million questions ran through his head, most of which he could already answer. Strangely, the question that upset him most was the question of when, exactly, had he turned. He was sensitive to sunlight and unnaturally thirsty within hours of the bite, sure, but he had still been breathing. His heart still beat to pump his own blood through his veins, and now he felt dry and empty. When had it happened? When, exactly, had he crossed the line between life and undeath? He had no way of knowing, and the thought disturbed him. There was no way Seto, or anyone else, could answer that question, so he asked the next important one tugging at his mind. "Am I dangerous?"

Seto took a deep breath. "That… that depends. I've been doing some research on vampires, but there's not much out there. Most people think they're just stories, and finding real, accurate information is difficult, but I think I've managed to work out some basics. You can live off of animal blood, if your will is strong enough. But it'll be less nutritious, you'll need to drink more, and you'll always crave human blood. Hard to sustain too, given the amount you'll need. Not to even mention the difference in power."

"The difference in power?"

"You know about typical vampire weaknesses. Repelled by garlic, can't cross running water, burns in sunlight. But here's the thing; a strong enough vampire can lessen, even negate these weaknesses. That requires a lot of human blood, just about every meal."

"Oh." Jason said quietly. He tried to imagine what his life (or, well, his undeath, but he didn't want to dwell on that particular flavor of existential crisis at the moment) would be like from now on. Hiding in his room, in complete darkness. Waiting until night came to get out and hunt, avoiding contact with his friends at all costs so that he couldn't hurt them. Struggling to find enough blood to keep him from losing his mind and attacking his friends. He'd never see the sun again…

"One more thing, Jason."

"Huh?"

"I've been looking a bit into how weres and vampires work. Vampires can't infect weres, but a were's blood is just as good as human blood to drink." Jason didn't fully grasp what Seto was saying until he held out his wrist to Jason. "We can set up a rotation. Vampires don't have to completely drain their vict- those they bite. We can kept you fed."

Jason stared at Seto, desperately searching his eyes for any hint that he was joking. When he found no such hint, his gaze drifted down to Seto's wrist, and the veins beneath. Jason took a deep breath with lungs that no longer needed air. He wanted it. God, he wanted to bite into that wrist, feel the warmth and life flowing into his mouth. He wanted to feed. He shook his head, turning away in horror. He clamped a hand tight over his mouth, shaking his head. "Seto, I can't do it. I can't hurt you."

Seto shook his head. He sat down by Jason's side, taking the hand from Jason's mouth. He gently took Jason's jaw and pried it open, pricking his finger on the sharp fangs. Jason sucked in a breath. He could smell it, taste it, even before Seto let go of his jaw and showed him the drop of blood beading on his fingertip. "Jason, that's the problem. You can hurt me. I saw you at the camp, I saw how viciously you attacked the alpha. You could kill me in a second if you wanted. You can hurt me, and I'd much rather that you do it when you can control yourself enough to stop."

…

"Okay, wait. Go through everything one more time?" Quentin was sitting on the living room couch. His friends were gathered around, trying to explain what had happened, but between how they constantly interrupted each other, and the shock of all Quentin had been through, he was having some trouble processing it. Ian sat next to him, silent, squeezing his hand tightly. Quentin leaned against him, hoping to comfort him. 

Mitch sighed. "Everyone in the house right now is a were, except for Jason who is a vampire. Jerome isn't here but he's a werewolf, Sky doesn't know anything about any of this. We don't want to tell Sky, because he hates weres. Another pack took our territory, and hopefully they'll be leaving soon, but they turned you two into weres."

Quentin sighed. They’d gone over this same information many times, but it was a lot for him to process. He was about to say something, when Ian spoke instead. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Ian’s voice was quiet, but Quentin could feel the rage bubbling beneath his measured tone. 

Mitch winced. “We… We didn’t think it was a good idea-”

“Oh, sure, it must have been a terrible idea! I mean, who could  _ imagine  _ the horrible consequences if we knew! If you had been able to tell us when you got pushed out by a rival pack! Oh, it would have been  _ just awful  _ if we had known there was danger out there before we got kidnapped and made into experiments! Wouldn’t that be the worst!” Ian laughed. Ian never laughed when he was angry before. 

Mitch was going to respond, but he heard footsteps and the door unlocking. “Ian, I’m sorry. Can we talk later? If Sky knows that we’re all weres… I don’t know what he’ll do.” Ian stared at Mitch for a long, long moment, eyes blazing with pain and anger slowly giving way to sorrow. Slowly, Ian nodded. He stood without a word, storming out of the room.


	13. Everyone's really sad and that's kind of the whole chapter

"You know, we could tell Sky tonight if you wanted."

Mitch and Jerome were sitting on the roof, looking out over the forest. It was late in the afternoon; before too much longer, the sun would set and the moon would rise. Jerome had been avoiding everyone else since he got home; something Mitch couldn't quite bring himself to blame Jerome for, seeing as he himself had gone to find Jerome just because he hated the thought of spending more time with Ian's furious eyes boring into the back of his neck. 

Things had been tense since Sky and Jerome got home. It was immediately obvious that Jerome had told Sky how Quentin and Ian had turned- it was near impossible to come up with a lie that Sky would believe - but nobody really knew what Sky was thinking. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet, sitting around and staring at Ian and Quentin before leaving, saying he needed to go to the store.

Jerome sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah. I guess we could. But… we can also tell him any other day."

"Tonight's the last full moon of the month. Maybe he'll accept it a little easier if he can see what we are." Mitch said hopefully.

"And maybe it would be better for him to see us like humans, to remind him that we're still his friends." Jerome retorted.

"...Jerome, I know this isn't easy. It's going to suck no matter how much we try and soften the blow. He hates weres, he loves all of us, he's not going to be happy to know that we're all weres. None of those facts are going to change. We just need to find a way to confront him that'll suck the least for all of us."

"Can we just avoid the topic? Never bring it up in the first place?" Even as Jerome said that, he knew it was pointless. What they had wasn't sustainable. Even though Sky didn't know it and probably wouldn't like it, Jerome considered Sky to be part of his pack. You didn't keep secrets from your pack. And putting aside Jerome's personal feelings about honesty and loyalty, you couldn't keep six weres and a vampire in the same house as one human without that human getting a little suspicious. They were all lucky that Sky had a habit of heading to bed a little before sunset, giving them time to transform without him seeing. 

Mitch sighed. "Yeah, cause that'll work out when Sky figures it out on his own, we don't get to explain, he thinks we're monsters, and he knows we've all been lying to him. We should tell him. Tonight." 

Jerome bit his lip. "...Ian and Quentin. They're newly turned, and turned in bad circumstances. I know the rest of you have all adjusted really fast, but you all immediately accepted being weres, or at least felt neutral about it. And that has even more of an impact on how much you remember than time. I mean, there are weres out there who've been weres for years and don't even know they're weres, they hate weres enough that they retain absolutely no memory in between forms. Ian and Quentin are probably going to know that Sky is their friend, but if he reacts badly and scares them, they might try and defend themselves by biting. That won't help anyone."

Mitch considered that for a moment. "That's… hm. You've actually got a good point there. Alright. Tell you what, we'll wait a month, let Ian and Quentin take their time to accept what happened."

"And then we wait until everyone else is comfortable with telling Sky."

"Wait, but if you're only comfortable if everyone is comfortable…"

Jerome sighed. "Excluding me. I'll agree to telling Sky if everyone thinks it's for the best, but only if everyone's ready to tell him." 

Mitch nodded silently. Privately, he thought it would be too late by then. But Jerome looked upset enough already, so he shut his mouth, sitting there in silence with his friend. 

…

Despite all he had been through last night, Ian brushed aside his friends' concerns and made dinner. 

Cooking was familiar, comforting. The whole world was distilled down to a recipe, and he didn't have to think about anything but making sure he made a good meal. He didn't have to think about how so many of his friends had been lying to him, he didn't have to think about the strange looks Sky had been giving him all day, he didn't have to think about what he would turn into tonight. 

Admittedly, he was getting a bit lazy and making burgers for dinner. Not that burgers were effortless- he'd spent ages and ages perfecting his recipe, and he still had to pay attention to avoid shaping lopsided patties or burning them- but they were relatively quick to make. Usually, when he had something on his mind that he'd rather avoid, he made big, elaborate meals that required constant attention. But those big meals took time, and by the time Ian had recovered from his shock and felt enough like himself to cook… well, it was much easier to throw together some burgers in half an hour.

Sky didn't come home until almost dinnertime. He was carrying a bag, and he wouldn't show anybody what was inside. That was worrying, but nobody wanted to try and confront him about it. Besides, he seemed to be doing a lot better now than he had been this morning. He was smiling again. The obvious discomfort and fear of earlier was gone, and he was their usual sunny Sky again. 

"So, Ian, Quentin, I got something for you." It was right around the end of dinner. Sky had been talkative and happy throughout the meal, but Ian caught the nervous edge now buried in Sky's cheerful tone. He glanced around the table at everyone else's expressions. Nervousness, curiosity, concern, suspicion. Nothing Ian wasn't already feeling himself.

He looked at Quentin, who shrugged. Might as well give Sky the benefit of the doubt. Ian forced a smile. "Really? Thank you so much."

That smile faded as Sky lifted the bag, dumping the contents onto the table. Two muzzles. They were old-fashioned, with wire cages of bare metal, and thick leather straps with strong buckles. Ian could imagine himself transformed, imagine that wire cage tight around his mouth, and he had to fight back a wave of primal terror that had bile rising in his throat. "Oh, these are… nice." Quentin said, picking one up with a small wince. Ian could see now that the two muzzles were different sizes. The fitting wouldn't be perfect, too small by Ian's estimation- he looked at the larger one and tried not to flinch at the thought of it clamped down around his face, keeping his mouth shut tight- but Sky's thought was clear. The smaller would fit a wereotter, the larger, a werehyena. 

Sky glanced between Ian and Quentin, an apologetic look appearing on his face when he saw their expressions. "I know, this isn't ideal. But I couldn't get cages on such short notice. It'll probably be… a little bit tight, but I had to make some estimates about what would fit, and I had some limited options for finding muzzles like these. The pet store doesn't have much that can hold back an angry were."

Ian took a deep breath. "Sky… do we need the muzzles?" He would have continued by saying that he and Quentin were still themselves, and though this transformation terrified him, he didn't think he and Quentin were dangerous, but he saw the look in Sky's eyes. Sky was afraid. It wasn't just the terror of being bitten, or seeing his friends hurt, but the terror that something about what Ian had become would overwhelm him. That Sky would have to watch his friend become a monster. 

The fear was unfounded, logically. It had been explained to Ian that becoming a were didn't directly change anyone's personality or morals, only exposed them to power and anonymity that might let them show another side of themselves. And no side of Ian wanted to hurt people. But to Sky, that fear was very real, and Ian decided that it couldn't hurt to indulge him for just a little bit. "I mean, if we're locked up in the garage or basement, we won't exactly be able to reach anyone." Ian continued.

Sky shook his head. "It's for your safety too. When the beasts are locked up, they may get frustrated when there's nothing to hunt. You could turn on each other, or yourselves. The muzzles will keep you safe." Sky said, wincing as he noticed that Ian and Quentin weren't convinced. "Just… just try it for tonight, and maybe we can keep the muzzles off once you have proper cages." He pleaded. 

Ian could tell that it was killing the others not to say anything. Jerome was most visibly struggling to stay silent, knuckles turning white as he gripped the table in an effort not to yell that this was a horrible idea. Ian looked at Quentin. Quentin took his hand, nodding. It would look suspicious to refuse Sky's offer. Ian sighed. "We'll use them. Thank you, Sky."

…

The idea of them all transforming inside the house was still terrifying to Jerome. Sky had helped Ian and Quentin strap the muzzles to their faces in ways that would make them stay on when they transformed, and then he retreated back to his room before the moon even rose. That gave them a little time to prepare before Ian and Quentin transformed, but not much time. The plan felt almost embarrassingly basic, when Jerome explained it to the others. Wait until Ian and Quentin turned- Sky might pop into the garage to check they were comfortable while they were still human, but he was almost certainly going to be too scared to check on them when they were transformed- and then get inside, get the muzzles off of them, get out into the woods, and get back early enough in the morning that Sky wouldn't realize they had been gone. A simple plan, made difficult by the fact that it would be very, very easy for things to go wrong at any point. Not to mention that Jerome was starting to realize that they were going to have to do this every full moon. 

Technically, Jerome could do this alone. He  _ should  _ do this alone, really. He was kind of the only one at that point who could reliably shift into a form with opposable thumbs during a full moon. Everyone else would be a distraction. But they insisted on staying, half for emotional support, half to help hold Ian and Quentin down if they were freaking out too much to hold still and let Jerome get the muzzle off. Jerome didn't have the heart to argue with them. They were all waiting just outside the door between the garage and the house; opening the garage door straight outside would be too loud, would probably alert Sky that something was happening. 

Jerome could feel himself starting to transform as the moon rose. He felt proud of his pack for being so quiet despite the pain; though that may have been because he could hardly hear anything over the sound of the two of them still in the garage. Quentin and Ian weren't doing so well, apparently, and it was breaking Jerome's heart to hear their screams of pain, but there was nothing he could do to help them. For a moment, he thought he heard another scream, but as he tried to focus and pin down exactly who it was coming from, the sound quieted and faded away. Quentin and Ian's screams… well, they didn't quite stop screaming, but it sounded much less human at this point. They had finished transforming. Jerome could hear laughter starting. 

The rest of them had all just finished their transformations. Jerome shifted quickly to a midform, opening the door as soon as he had something close enough to human hands to twist the doorknob. Quentin was curled in a corner, trying to pry the muzzle off his face with little success. Ian was running around the room, smashing his face against the walls, occasionally rearing up and pawing frantically at the muzzle. It was small enough that he could barely open his mouth at all, and laughter kept pouring from his throat. Jerome half-wished that weres couldn't all understand each other, that he couldn't make out the words hidden in the laughter, jumbled by panic and pain and more instinct than intentional communication.

"Help me, help me, help me, LET ME OUT, I'm stuck, I'm stuck, I'm stuck, let me out I want my pack, help me, help me, I want to get out, I'm stuck, it hurts, LET ME OUT LET ME OUT!" It was barely coherent, the crazed ramblings of someone who had never been more terrified in his life, and had essentially no memory to explain where he was and why there was a muzzle on his face. Jerome winced. It was easy to get overwhelmed by instinct, to lose yourself in it. It still sometimes happened to him on occasion. But when he half-forgot who he was and that anything other than the forest mattered, it was when he was running, or fishing, or hunting, lost in joy and excitement, where the takeover of instinct served to amplify those feelings. Ian was lost in fear, where instinct only smothered the parts of his mind that knew he was in no danger.

For a moment, Jerome hated Sky for putting Ian in this situation. He knew that Sky had only wanted to help, but Sky's plan was going to do nothing but hurt. Ian began to calm slightly when he smelled and recognized his friends. He still backed up as Jerome approached, but his hackles lowered and Jerome only had to wrestle him a little to take off the muzzle. The laughter had stopped, and Ian had gone mostly quiet. He seemed much calmer now, letting Jerome get the muzzle all the way off before he ran over to the others. He was greeted with quiet yips and chirps, everyone trying not to make too much noise. It didn't take much longer to get Quentin's muzzle off- he didn't wriggle around as much as Ian had, but he was smaller and the buckles holding on the muzzle were smaller, and fine motor control was difficult for werewolves.  Once Quentin was free, he ran over to the others, making contented chirping noises.

Jerome carefully herded them all out of the house, grateful that just about all of them had enough memory between forms to know the importance of staying quiet. As soon as they were outside, they broke into a run. It wasn't quite as fast as Jerome would have liked; he needed to carefully control his pace. Obviously, he had to stay slow enough that Quentin and Ian could follow. In addition, Ty's legs were short, Seto was still a slow flyer, and Jason, well, vampires weren't a whole lot faster than humans when they weren't attacking. But that hardly mattered. He was outside, he was running, he was with his pack, and for tonight, at least, they were all safe.

…

Jason went to go walk on his own as soon as they reached the cave. He supposes that, technically, he could have just gone out as soon as the sun set. He wasn't under any obligation to follow everyone to the cave. But as much as he wanted to be alone and brood, he wanted to make sure all his friends were alright. He'd noticed that Seto's flight was a little more wobbly than usual. He had taken Seto's offer of blood earlier. He couldn't imagine doing it again.

Still, the memory made his fangs ache and his stomach growl with a furious, vicious need, with an intensity Jason didn't know he was capable of. He remembered his fangs breaking Seto's skin. He hadn't learned the trick that had been used on him, of hypnotizing from a distance, but he remembered how Seto had tensed up, then suddenly relaxed, even leaning into Jason's fangs as his eyes glassed over with a dull, vacant look of contentment, even pleasure. (Later, when he recovered, Seto got excited about the idea of testing Jason's saliva to try and find whatever compound served as such a potent anesthetic, but he'd stopped when Jason said that he didn't want to be an experiment in addition to a monster.) He remembered the warmth of Seto's blood flowing into his mouth, the energy and life filling him with every gulp until he could almost feel his heart beating again. He remembered feeling Seto weaken, and how he had forced himself to let go before he hurt his friend too badly, and he remembered how Seto had fainted, knocked out for only a couple seconds, but terrifying seconds. 

The worst part was that Jason had enjoyed it. Not all of it, and not all the way. He certainly had been horrified when Seto passed out, even though Seto was fine and just needed a snack and to lie down for a minute before he felt more or less like he hadn't just had a good chunk of blood sucked out of him. But something in Jason had responded to the taste of blood and the way his fangs broke through flesh, and even though he had enough to sustain him, he craved more. It disgusted him. He hated the idea that he would have to do it again.

Technically, he didn't have to drink human blood. He clung to that thought tightly, even though he knew that his other options were bad. He was certain he didn't have the willpower to just starve himself of blood, especially with the risk that he'd just lose it and attack the nearest person as soon as the thirst got to be too much. He could hunt animals for their blood, but it would make him too weak to go out in the daytime, and he'd have to spend every night just scraping together enough to stay satisfied. Not to mention, while he didn't personally have too much of an issue with the ethics of hunting for food, he wanted to be certain that the animals wouldn't suffer, and he didn't know that he could make a clean enough kill.

He sighed, walk speeding up a bit. His senses felt sharper in the night. His vision was clear and sharp, picking out every detail in the darkness. He was aware of every little noise around him, and he could swear he could smell better. Still, it took him a while to realize that he was being followed. He turned when he heard the crack of a breaking twig, and he saw Ian standing there. Ian walked up to Jason, looking up at him. 

Jason sighed. "Hey, Ian." Ian made a quiet whooping noise, keeping to Jason's side as he continued to walk. Jason wasn't sure how much Ian remembered. If he followed the pattern all the others had, then by the second transformation he should at least have some vague memories of who he was when not under the full moon, and know with much more clarity who his friends were. But the others had all transformed in relatively familiar places, in safety with friends. Ian's first transformation had occurred in what was practically a battlefield, after experiments that amounted to torture, and there was no telling how that would mess with his head.

Still, he seemed content enough as he walked with Jason. "You know, you ought to be back with the others. Why would you go with me?" Jason said, knowing full well that Ian couldn't respond and might not even understand in the first place. "I'm not off to do anything more interesting than anyone else. I'm just clearing my head. I've heard Ty is trying to get better at taking a midform, maybe you want to go back and see him try." 

Ian made no move to turn around. Jason was quiet until they reached a stream. It was fast-moving, but very shallow and so thin that normally, Jason would just be able to step right over it. But he couldn't. It wasn't like there was any barrier holding him back, but when he tried to step over, his legs just… wouldn't move. He just stood there for a long moment. Ian had already crossed over the stream, looking back at Jason as if wondering why he had stopped moving. Jason sighed, turning and walking away. He heard splashing behind him as Ian walked back to follow him. "You're lucky, you know. I mean, all things considered, you'd definitely rather be human, but better a were than a vampire. I mean, what do you need to avoid being a danger? You just need some space to run around on the full moon so you don't freak out on us. What do I need to do to avoid becoming a danger? I starve myself, or I drink from people who trust me to stop when I don't even trust myself. And you just have to deal with it for about three nights in a month. ...I don't know for sure that I'll ever see sunlight again."

Ian whimpered. He followed as Jason climbed over a fallen tree, watching as Jason stumbled while on top and tumbled to the ground. Jason sighed, staring up at the night sky. "Would be nice if I could figure out turning into a bat. Or a mist, or a rat, or whatever. I've heard some people say that vampires can turn into wolves. Maybe I'd fit in better with the rest of the pack if I could figure that out."

Ian huffed, jumping down from the fallen tree, letting Jason grab onto his fur to pull himself up. “Thank you.” Jason sighed. He kept walking, noting whenever an obstacle forced him to change direction- the last thing he wanted was to be lost when the sun came up- but outside of that he was completely lost in thought. He could feel the thirst growing in him. It wasn't burning, it wasn't insistent. Not yet. But it was just there. Just a friendly little poke. A reminder, if you will! Sure, for the moment he was well-fed and safe to be around, but sooner or later, he'd need to cut open one of his friends and drink again! Gosh, wouldn't want to ever forget that, would he!? A whimper from Ian made Jason realize that he'd been speaking aloud, practically screaming, really.

Jason went quiet, shaking. "I never should have suggested that we go camping." He whispered. "If we had stayed home- or hell, if we had just gone anywhere else!- then I would still be okay. I would still be  _ alive _ . We were lucky that things didn't turn out worse than they did. I don't know where Sky was, but he was lucky the vampire didn't find him too. And I was lucky that something knocked them off balance, broke their focus, or I'd just be dead instead of undead. Maybe that would be better, actually."

Ian was easily one of the most responsible and reasonable of all his friends. He was more than willing to go along with them, but he'd hold them back from anything too stupid or dangerous. Whenever someone said something too stupid for Ian to deal with, he gave them a look, a look Jason was familiar enough with that he could recognize it on the face of a hyena. Jason shrunk under Ian's gaze, looking away. "I'm glad I'm not dead, I guess. But it would be safer for everyone if I was. I'm not completely certain if the amount of blood I need falls within the range it's safe to take. I mean, I've done a bit of research. About 8% I know I can take, since that's what they take for blood donations, but I don't know how fast I can feed again. Volume is replaced within 2 days, the red blood cells within 8 weeks, but apparently, according to any source I'e read, vampires feed on some sort of  _ life force  _ in the blood, and who knows what that's supposed to mean or how long that takes to safely replenish!" Jason threw his hands in the air in frustration. He paused, quietly laughing. "Maybe Sky should have put a muzzle on me instead." That comment earned a growl, Ian staring incredulously at Jason. The dirt under their feet was turning to sand as they walked out from under the trees, to the banks of the river. Jason sat down at the shore, and Ian laid down next to him. "I'm scared." Jason whispered, closing his eyes. 

They sat there for what felt like hours, until they heard howling in the distance. Their pack was looking for them. Silently, Jason stood, walking back along the path they had taken here. Ian went with him, and would refuse to leave his side the rest of the night.

…

"So. Thoughts?" 

Quentin and Ian were sitting in the library, draped over beanbag chairs. They'd been brought back into the house before the sun rose, the muzzles quickly put back on them shortly before they turned back. Ian hadn't liked that part one bit, but the visible relief on Sky's face when he opened the garage door assured him that it was the smart choice. He'd probably have given Sky a heart attack if he revealed that he hadn't actually been sitting in the garage with a muzzle on all night. 

Sky had helped them get the muzzles off (turns out it was difficult to do that by themselves even in human form), all the while thanking them for staying put and telling them that it would get better, that he had a plan. Sky's hands had been trembling, and there were bags under his eyes. Ian suspected that Sky had been up all night worrying about them. The others had managed to get into the house as well and turn back before Sky had left his room. Sure, a bit odd that all of them were wide-awake and making breakfast when Sky got up at the crack of dawn, but Ian hoped that Sky was distracted enough that he wouldn't be suspicious.

Sky had spent quite a while fussing over them, but the others had finally managed to peel him away and give Ian and Quentin some time alone. Ian shrugged. "I dunno. I remember… bits and pieces. Should I remember more than I do?"

Quentin shrugged. "I've only got some memory as well. Pretty sure that's normal, we should be retaining most stuff by next full moon. What I can remember… not bad. I caught fish with Jerome. Don't really think Sky needed to put muzzles on us…"

"He's scared. I can understand that at least." Ian said.

Quentin sighed. "Doesn't justify it. ...Think we should tell Sky what's going on?"

Ian bit his lip. "I want to. But I don't think it would end well."

Quentin reached out, gently touching along Ian's jaw. "You want that muzzle back on you? Sky will keep putting it on every full moon if you don't prove to him that you're not a danger. And if you want to prove you're not a danger, you're going to have to spill some secrets in the process."

"Exactly. They're not all my secrets to tell. I can't expose everyone else just to try and keep a muzzle off my face."

Quentin shook his head. "I don't like this, Ian."

"Neither do I. But things can't get worse if we keep our mouths shut, right?"

…

Mitch whimpered, wincing at the crackling of his spine as he pushed up from four legs to two. His paws burned as the toes shifted in length and flexibility to resemble fingers. "There. Hold it there." Ty said, stepping forward to inspect Mitch. The archer stayed as still as he could, letting Ty poke and prod at him, calling out notes to Seto, who was sitting on a nearby stump with a sketchbook and an anatomy textbook. Mitch's ears twitched and swiveled, and he longed to go running off into a forest filled with so many more sounds and smells and sights than it was at night. He'd started practicing shifting with Ty and Seto after Ian and Quentin's first full moon, and the three of them had spent the last two weeks trying to perfect a midform.

Mitch found it easiest to fully shift and then try to get to a midform from there; of course, shifting fully in the first place in broad daylight took a lot of energy. He'd passed out the first time he tried it. Ty paced another lap around Mitch, nodding. His leg suddenly shot out, sweeping at Mitch. Mitch yelped in surprise as his leg was knocked out from under him, but he managed to recover his balance and stay up on two legs. "That was mean." Seto commented, raising an eyebrow at Ty. 

Ty grinned, teeth pointier than they usually were. A fluffy tail wagged behind him, and his ears were furry and pointed, on the top of his head. Show-off. Ty had gotten the hang of shifting easily, and effortlessly controlling the degree of the shift, far more quickly than Mitch or Seto. "Had to check balance. Good news, Mitch, you look pretty steady!" 

"Thanks." Mitch said, rearranging his throat as he spoke to form the words. Ty winced at the growling, distorted sound that barely resembled Mitch's voice. 

"Oooookay, you're going to want to either stay quiet or work on fixing those vocal cords." Ty noted. "Overall, I think you're doing well. You can shift to human now."

Mitch obliged, feeling the relief as his body snapped smoothly into human form. He stretched, starting to feel the toll of trying to shift in daylight. He stumbled over to Seto's stump, lying down in the grass next to him. Seto pat his head reassuringly, not looking up from the textbook. "Ty's right. You're improving dramatically. You should probably be able to take a midform during the full moon."

Mitch sighed. "I hope so." They were preparing for next full moon, if Jerome would agree by then to tell Sky. Fully taking human form during a full moon was next to impossible, but midforms were easier. And if they were going to confront Sky, it would probably work out a whole lot better if they could all talk to him. Assuming that didn't just freak him out. Assuming he wouldn't already be freaking out before they got a chance to talk in the first place.

Seto finally looked up, noticing Mitch's worried expression. "Hey. It'll be fine. We've known Sky for years, he won't start hating us because we're weres. He doesn't hate Ian and Quentin, does he?"

"Yeah, he just clamped muzzles on their faces and locked them in the garage for 'their own good'. I don't care what his motives are if he tries to do that to the rest of us. And in any case, he found out about Ian and Quentin literally the night they were turned. He might react worse when he realizes we've been keeping secrets."

Seto bit his lip. "He did say he's hoping to remove the muzzles."

"And replace them with cages."

"...True. But I trust that he'll cut it out if he learns what a bad idea that is. He just wants the best for his friends."

…

Sky laid out his plans for the cages in front of Jerome and Jason. "You two are pretty strong, I was hoping you could help me put them together when I have all the materials." Sky said, looking at them with a clearly fake smile, the worry that they wouldn't agree visible in his eyes. Jerome stared in disbelief at the dimensions labelled on the cages, hoping that Sky had made a mistake. 

"Sky, these… these are way, way too small. They'll barely be able to move without touching the bars." Jerome said, looking at Sky with dismay. 

Sky winced. "I know, I know. But we don't want the beasts to get comfortable, or feel confident enough to try and break out. It's not great, but we're sacrificing a bit of their comfort for the safety of everyone else."

Jason was looking at the designs, off to the side of the blueprint, for the bars themselves. "You're going to coat the bars with silver?" He said in disbelief.

Sky nodded. "On one side, at least. This project's already going to wipe out most of my personal savings as it is now. It'll encourage them to stay still."

Jerome growled. Jason and Sky both stared at him, equally as surprised. Jerome stood, took the plans, and tore them in half. "No. You're not going to lock them up so tight they can barely breathe, and you're sure as hell not doing it with  _ silver _ ."

Sky shrunk back, not seeming to know what to do. "It's not that bad. Different types of weres react differently to different metals. Werewolves react worst to silver. Weresquids react worst to gold. Maybe silver won't be so bad for a werehyena and a wereotter, just enough to encourage them to hold still-"

"Sky, are you even listening to yourself!? You're going to hurt Ian and Quentin!"

Sky looked almost desperate now, standing up. Jason wanted to leave the room, but the room they were in now was the only one without windows to let in the sunlight. He was essentially stuck here until he had drunken enough human blood to resist sunlight. "No, we're hurting the monsters. Ian and Quentin won't even remember when they come back in the morning." Sky protested. 

Jerome looked about ready to snap. "Sky! There's no damn difference! Ian and Quentin aren't monsters, regardless of what form they take during the full moon! We-Weres aren't monsters!"

Sky frowned, and for a moment, Jason and Jerome both thought that he had caught Jerome's slip-up. Then, he shook his head. "Can't help but notice that you stuttered on that last sentence there." Jerome was relieved for a second- he hadn't given himself away, if Sky thought he was stuttering he wouldn't correct him- but tensed as Sky continued. "Weres are dangerous. I don't think Ian or Quentin want to hurt us, but have you ever heard what happens when a caged were escapes? If they can't control their bloodlust, then they have to be caged up. Look, they understand why this is necessary, I can't see why you-"

"SHUT UP!" Jerome roared, slamming a fist on the table. Sky went silent immediately, more out of shock than anything else. Jerome was seething, anger and pain boiling over in his eyes. "You don't know  _ anything  _ about weres. You're just afraid, and you'll believe anything that will give you an excuse to lock your friends away so you don't have to see them like that. You'd rather believe they become bloodthirsty beasts than acknowledge that they're the same people in different forms. And you know what? I don't deny that things sometimes end badly when humans and weres meet on full moons. But it's hardly bloodlust. Barely any humans react well when they see massive beasts, whether that reaction is just screaming or that reaction is attacking. But most weres are aware of this. Most weres actively avoid humans during full moons. Most weres that end up seeing humans anyways have the good sense to just run rather than fight back! And you know, nine times out of ten, who does attack? It's the ones who don't recognize that they're also human inside. The ones with the connection between their forms so distorted with hate and fear that they don't realize the consequences of attacking a human, and the ones so terrified and stressed that they lash out at anything that looks like a threat! You know what kind of weres those people are, Sky?"

Sky was staring, wide-eyed, and it seemed to take a moment to register that Jerome had asked a question. "F-Feral-" He tried.

"Weres who really think they're monsters. Weres who are locked in cages every month, weres so disconnected between forms that when they transform, they can't remember that they're supposedly in there for a reason, and so they break out and people get hurt. You want to keep your friends from becoming monsters? Locking them in cages won't help you."

Sky frowned. "My father was a were. He refused to let himself be caged. He let himself go wherever he liked during the full moon, he embraced it and then he betrayed us all-"

"Well, I'm real sorry for you, but your dad was just a horrible person and you need to get over it." Sky looked like Jerome had just slapped him hard in the face, but Jerome kept talking. “Yeah, your dad turned out to be a traitor. That’s not because he was a were, and that’s not because he failed to hate himself so much that he couldn’t think straight. If he retained enough knowledge between forms to make the deal and provide useful information, then he was fully aware of what he was doing and what the consequences were. He was just the kind of person who would betray people the second he was offered a good deal, and the kind of person who would abandon his wife and kid the moment things went south. You need to stop whining about how awful weres are when that’s just the excuse you use to justify your dad’s actions.”

Sky said nothing when Jerome was finished speaking. He sat there, shaking. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then his breath caught as if he was going to cry. He stood. His sunglasses had been perched on top of his head, but now he pulled them down and pressed them tight on his face, concealing his eyes. Too late. Jason had seen the gathering tears. Sky turned, leaving the room quickly. 

Jerome watched him go. The anger was leaving him, and now he turned to Jason with a look of worry. “Was I… was I too harsh?”

Jason sighed. “I mean, I won’t lie, you definitely didn’t put any of that as delicately as you could have. But… I think it was necessary, wasn’t it? Sky’s dad is the whole reason he thinks embracing being a were can twist ordinary people into monsters. He’s not going to change his mind overnight, but at the very least he needs to know that cages won’t help Ian and Quentin.”

Jerome nodded. “I guess.”   
“Probably could have eased into the whole traitorous dad thing a little more tactfully. Maybe could have had a few earlier conversations about him before diving right into calling his dead father a horrible person.”

Jerome cringed. “Yeah…”

“You were angry, I understand. You should go apologize, try and do some damage control. Hopefully, some good will come out of that conversation after all.”

…

Apologizing would be a lot easier if Sky would talk to Jerome.

Really, Jerome was impressed by the skill and stubbornness it took to avoid someone for two weeks. It was the evening of the full moon, and Jerome was worried that his first real conversation with Sky after calling his dead dad an awful traitor was going to be the conversation where he revealed that all his friends were weres. Everyone else had agreed to tell Sky tonight, and Jerome had no choice but to concede.

Sky had left the muzzles sitting on the table after dinner, and while he winced as Ian and Quentin left the table without picking them up, he didn’t push them. Ian told Jerome that Sky had shown them the plans for the cage, and that he’d asked- almost begged- them to agree to stay in them just to be safe, but hadn’t forced it on them when they refused. That was a promising sign, Jerome hoped. It didn’t escape his notice, though, that Sky had started giving Ian and Quentin wary looks when they weren’t watching him.

The plan tonight was to transform, take a midform if possible, confront Sky, and hope that he didn’t react badly. They had a plan or two for escape if things went bad, but nobody really thought they would need them. Just in case. As usual, Sky went to his room before the sun started to set. When they all transformed, it was quick, and they were quiet, not wanting Sky to come and investigate before they were ready to confront him.

For a few minutes, they all just waited there in the living room, none wanting to be the first to move. Finally, Mitch got up, walking down the hall to Sky’s room. The others followed suit. As he came to the door, Mitch reared up in a midform, knocking on the door. No response. Maybe Sky was asleep already? He knocked again, louder, ears pricked for any noise from inside. He heard a dull, muffled thump, followed by a faint sizzling sound. He glanced back at the others, confused, and he tried to open the door. It was locked. 

Mitch whimpered. Something was wrong, he was certain at it. He fumbled with the doorknob for several, frantic seconds where it, shockingly, didn’t magically unlock itself, before he just started throwing himself at the door. It broke a lot more easily under the strength of a panicked werewolf than he thought it would, and he ended up sprawled on the floor, surrounded by splinters. He got up quickly, shaking himself off. Sky… wasn’t there. Mitch tilted his head. The others entered the room, just as baffled as Mitch. The door had been locked, and the window was also locked and shut tight. They’d all seen Sky go inside. How had he just vanished?

They started looking for him. There wasn’t a whole lot of space to look; in the closet, under his desk, crammed into the corner behind the bookshelf or under his bed. All were notably Sky-free. Seto ended up being the one to find something odd. A small handle in the wall, hidden behind an old poster. He cawed to get the others’ attention. Mitch ran over, pulling it open to reveal a hidden space in the wall.

It wasn’t much. Just a small, dark space jammed between the wall of Sky’s room and the outside wall of the house, only a few feet wide. What Mitch saw, however- and what the others saw as they poked their heads in to see what was going on- was far more shocking than a hidden room. 

A tank of water of moderate size had been placed on the floor. Inside of the tank was a cage, shining and glittering gold in the light filtering in from Sky’s room. It was far, far too small for its occupant. A weresquid. Folded in on himself to avoid touching the bars, angry red marks showing where tentacles had brushed against gold. The weresquid shrunk back at the sight of intruders, frightened and uncertain. Mitch looked into the weresquid’s eyes, and was certain for only a second that Sky had imprisoned some stranger, because there was absolutely no recognition in the weresquid’s eyes.

But in the weresquid’s tentacles, clutched tightly as if for comfort, was undeniably Sky’s amulet.


	14. Chapter 14

_ Sky had lied, when he said he was too young to remember when his father left. _

_ In fact, it was probably the strongest memory of his father he had. He had little snippets of life before he knew his father was a traitor, and they were happy, but clouded and hard to recall. It was often hard to remember his face in detail. It didn't help that his mother had destroyed or hidden most of the pictures. _

_ He remembered that it had been a full moon. It was stormy, and it was dark, the full moon almost hidden behind clouds. Dangerous weather to go out to the open ocean, and the fact that his father was still trying to do so was the final piece of evidence before his mother felt that she absolutely had to confront him about his betrayal.  _

_ Sky had been asleep, but the sound of shouting woke him up. His first instinct was to go and find his parents. He'd been woken up by fighting before, but normally his parents would stop as soon as they realized he was listening. He should have realized that night wasn't a normal night. He came downstairs at possibly the worst time, coming into sight just as his father said that he was leaving.  _

_ His father had tried to take him with him. The decision to leave had obviously been made quickly and without much thought; if Sky hadn't been right there when the decision was made, maybe things would be different. But his father had grabbed him, dragging him out the door. He had been headed towards the beach, already shifting into a midform as Sky cried and squirmed, his father's grip on Sky's arm painfully tight. His mother had grabbed him, tried to pull him away, but Sky's father held tight. _

_ He had thought he would be torn in half. He kept screaming for them to stop, that they were hurting him, but they ignored his sobbing. They were both strong, and they were able to fight for quite a while, but eventually his father's grip started to slip.  _

_ Most of the memory had the fuzzy, nauseating feel of a nightmare, where the precise details are lost in the feelings of terror and pain. But the next couple of seconds, Sky remembered with absolute clarity. He remembered the expression on his father's face when he realized he was losing, and watched the shock harden into anger. It was the most clear memory of his father's face that he had. _

_ Later, Sky would recall the look in his father's eyes again and again. He'd scour his memory for the tiniest details, trying to see those eyes in a way that made everything fit together with everything he'd been told about why his father ran. It happened because the beast inside of him took him over. So Sky would look for rage. He would look for hunger. He would look for eyes void of anything but animal instinct. He would look for something, anything, that he could point to and confirm that it wasn't really his father in that moment, just the beast that had consumed him. _

_ But try as he might to imagine otherwise, all he saw in his father's eyes was pure spite as his teeth plunged into Sky's arm.  _

…

Sky barely moved as Mitch got closer. He stayed curled up tight in a little ball as Mitch walked slowly up to the tank. Mitch could now see the lock on the cage. It looked like it was timed, designed to lock after moonrise and unlock after sunrise. Perfect for someone who wanted to lock themselves up each full moon without needing anyone's help.

Mitch looked around for a moment, trying to find a way to get the cage open now. After a moment, he found a switch by the lock; probably an emergency unlock switch, in case the timed lock failed to sync up with Sky's transformation. Sky was smaller in squid form than in human form, and what was cramped for him now would probably crush him if it didn't unlock when daylight came. Mitch's instinct turned out to be correct, as the top of the cage popped right open. 

He didn't expect Sky's reaction. Sky stared uncomprehendingly at the open mouth of the cage, trying to figure out what was happening. Slowly, carefully, he uncoiled from his curled-up position, cautiously poking tentacles out of the cage before starting to swim up. His movements were slow and uncertain, and when Mitch reached into the tank to try and help him out, Sky recoiled. He lashed out, smacking Mitch's paw surprisingly hard. As Mitch drew back with a yelp, more from surprise than from pain, Sky flattened himself against the bottom of the tank, staring warily as Mitch backed off.

Mitch whimpered. "Why-"

"He's gone feral." Jerome interrupted. He pulled Mitch back. "Give him space. He's not going to leave until he feels safe."

"I don't understand."

"He doesn't remember us at all." Jerome looked concerned. "I've only ever heard of this happening. I mean, sometimes you get it with people who are still in denial over being weres, but… well, Sky clearly knows what he is. He's probably been locking himself up for a while." They were all quiet for a moment, trying to think of any time they had seen Sky as human on the full moon. He'd always locked himself in his room before sunset, for as long as they'd known him. 

"Is he going to be okay?" Jason asked quietly.

Jerome shrugged. "I don't know. He's clearly not doing great now. ...I don't know what to do, honestly. With time and effort, I think we can maybe start to help him remember more between forms, but I doubt he'll appreciate that."

…

_ "Momma?" Sky asked. They were sitting in front of the fireplace, the crackling fire drying the rainwater and the blood on his skin. He was shivering despite the warmth of the flames. _

_ "Yes?" She replied. She carefully wrapped another layer of bandages around his arm. As soon as she could, she had thrown together a salve as quickly as she could, mixing gold in with disinfectants and herbs and anything she could think of. It was useless. She was aware that the supposed cure was more superstition than anything; and in any case, it was supposed to be applied immediately after the bite. By the time she had mixed it all together and spread it over the bite, she knew that the curse had already set in. _

_ "Why did Daddy hurt me?" Sky asked. His mother stopped wrapping the bandages. She took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to keep Sky from seeing the growing tears in her eyes.  _

_ "You… you know what your father was." _

_ Sky nodded. "Uh huh. He's a weresquid, so he has to go away when the moon gets full. To keep everyone safe." _

_ "That's right. We… we weren't careful enough. We should have kept him locked up. He started embracing the transformation. He let the beast consume him, let it take over his mind, and he became a monster. What you saw tonight wasn't him. Not really. That was the monster, and it tried to infect you. ...Your father isn't coming back." _

_ "Oh." Later, when it really sunk in, Sky would cry and scream for hours, and he would spend months hoping that some day, his dad would come back, before he gave up that hope. For now, though, he just stared at his own arm. "He bit me. Does that mean I'm going to turn into a weresquid?" _

_ His mother winced, again struggling not to cry. "Yes." _

_ "...Am I going to become a monster too?" _

_ She hugged him tight. "No. You're my baby, I'm never going to let you become a monster. You don't have to be afraid. We're going to be more careful than your father was." _

…

The pack waited in Sky's room, out of sight from the little hidden space where Sky stayed. Ty slowly poked his head in, trying to see Sky without alerting him to his presence.

Sky had abandoned the cage, and for the moment seemed perfectly content to just sit on the bottom of the tank, away from the burning gold. But as Ty watched, Sky started looking up, slowly grabbing at the lip of the tank and carefully pulling himself up. Ty didn't know much about weresquids, but he did know that they could breathe out of water for a few hours at a time before needing to go back. Sky clung to the edge of the tank. He was quivering, grip tight. Ty couldn't blame him. If Sky really was feral, and couldn't remember a thing about being human… well, he had absolutely no idea if there was anything dangerous outside the cage.

An idea came to Ty. If all weres could more or less speak to each other, Sky would understand him, right? Being feral couldn't change that much. Ty cautiously stepped into the room, sending Sky scrambling back into the tank. Ty softly yipped a greeting. Sky stared at him, but didn't respond.

Ty whimpered, walking a little closer to the tank. He moved slow, keeping himself low to the ground, trying to make his body language convey that he was absolutely no threat. Sky cautiously pulled himself out of the water again, quizzically staring at Ty. 

"Hello." Ty said again. He got no response. He tilted his head. "Two blinks for yes, one for no. Do you understand me?"

Two blinks.

"Do you remember me?"

One blink.

Ty whimpered. "I'm a friend. You can trust me." Sky hesitated a moment, then slowly pulled himself over the tank's edge, falling to the ground. He was fairly small in squid form, barely larger than Seto's raven form. Small enough that when Ty lay down next to him, he was able to comfortably climb up onto Ty's back, staying perched there as Ty stood back up.

"I would have thought he'd talk at least a bit." Mitch whispered as Ty carried Sky steadily towards the rest of the pack.

Jerome frowned. "Yeah. I mean, feral weres generally aren't very talkative, but come on, this is Sky we're talking about. Something's wrong."

…

_ Honestly, Sky's very first transformation was less than ideal for a number of reasons. _

_ Being shoved into a cage, and soon afterwards forgetting that there was a reason for that happening, was bad enough, even though he was too small for the gold bars to really be a problem yet. Not to mention, Sky had still been afraid of the dark back then, and the room had no light but that from a window with curtains drawn. And the pain was certainly traumatic. But for the first transformation, at least, the worst part was that Sky's mother had left the room and wouldn't come back. _

_ He'd been quiet, as his mother locked him in the cage, his head just above the water. He'd wanted to be brave. But then the transformation started. He can't really be blamed. He was afraid, and in pain, and only a child. It didn't take long before he was screaming and crying, sobbing for his mother. _

_ He didn't stop screaming as the transformation stole his memory. He'd kept frantically calling as the transformation finished, desperate that someone would come and make the pain go away. He'd only quieted down when he heard a door slam somewhere in the house. _

_ He'd shut up and curled up. His gills flared as he breathed quickly, eyes straining in the dark for any movement. He was suddenly, intensely aware of just how small he was. His imagination filled with images of monsters waiting in the dark to eat him. He called out again, more desperate this time. He wanted his mom. He wanted his dad. He wanted someone to come and save him!  _

_ The door slammed open. Sky squinted at the figure silhouetted in the doorway, confused. That was a human. Why was there a human here? Were they going to hurt him? As the human walked closer, a bit of memory and recognition slid into place. Sky gasped, swimming up to the bars as he made excited chirping noises. That was his mom! His momma was here and everything was going to be alright- _

_ She picked up the cage, pulling it out of the tank and flinging it into the ground. The water drained away, and Sky cowered in fear, curled between the bars. His tentacle brushed one, and he cried out in pain, curling up tighter to avoid further contact with the gold. He was still chirping, but now more desperately as he tried to figure out what he had done wrong. "SHUT UP!" Sky didn't understand the words, but he understood the knife pointed at him.  _

_ He went dead quiet. The blade was thin but sharp, easy to fit through the bars. Tears were streaming down his mother's face. "It would be a mercy to kill you now. You'd never grow up to be a monster." She whispered. Sky held perfectly still, staring at the blade mere inches from his eyes. For several long seconds, she didn't move either. Then, with a deep sigh, she put the knife away. _

_ "I can't do it." She whispered. "I'm so sorry, but… I can't do it." She picked up the cage again, placing it back in the tank, and began to walk away. Sky half-wanted to call out again, to try and get her to stay. But fear and shock kept him silent. She closed the door behind her, leaving him in darkness. _

_ Sky didn't remember the incident. How could he? He was making a conscious effort to block out as many memories as he could, trying to keep the monster out of his mind, and he found himself very skilled at building that wall. Still, he was quieter than normal for a long time. He didn't know why, just that he felt a pang of fear every time he tried to raise his voice. _

_ His only clue was the clear guilt on his mother's face whenever he spoke. He forgave her for whatever she had done. Eventually, he was able to get over the fear. It was difficult to recover, to force himself to be as loud and excitable as he was before, but he managed. _

_ But he stayed silent whenever there was a full moon. He didn't know exactly what would happen if he made too much noise, and he wasn't planning to find out. So he stayed very still and very quiet. Before long, it was more habit than anything. He stayed quiet. He stayed still. _

_ He stayed safe. _

…

Sky stayed perfectly still as Ty carried him out to the others. His tentacles curled in Ty's fur, grip tightening. Jerome backed away, out of the room, silently urging the others to do the same. Though everyone was clearly dying with curiosity, concern for Sky overwhelmed that curiosity. They left, leaving Ty and Sky alone. 

“Well, none of that exactly went as planned.” Jerome muttered. He kept his tone light, hoping not to betray how unnerved he felt. He’d never actually seen a were go feral like this before. He’d never thought he would see one of his best friends like that.

“He’s been hurting himself.” Mitch whimpered, looking back towards Sky’s room.

Jerome sighed. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing. It’s clear that he thinks of his different forms as entirely separate entities. He thinks that by locking himself up in a golden cage, he’s only hurting a monster-”

“Like, he’s biting himself.”

“What?”

“Yeah. He was bleeding. I could smell it. Not a lot of blood, but it was fresh. And… that would certainly explain some things.” Jerome thought for a moment. Sky had always said that his scars came from fighting squids. They’d always seemed a little too big and too deep to come from squids, but his friends had never had any reason to disbelieve him. But sure, it was true that every once in a while, they’d catch a glimpse of a mark that hadn’t been there last month. And rarely, they’d find Sky with a bloody wound- 

“Oh my god, he told us it was a raccoon that tore up his shoulder.  _ And we believed him. _ ”

“We do have some really big raccoons around here. If he had actually tried to keep food from one of those things, I don’t think he’d still have an arm.” Mitch’s tone was light, and his tail wagging, but Jerome could tell it was half-hearted.

“We should have seen it earlier. We should have said something to him.” Jerome whimpered. 

Mitch nuzzled him gently. “We couldn’t have known Sky was hiding something like this. ...We're going to have to find a way to confront him about this tomorrow morning.”

Jerome’s eyes widened in realization. “You’re right. He’s feral, he won’t remember any of this when he turns back.”

“Guess we can’t avoid that conversation anyways.” Mitch said. 

Jerome groaned, ears flattening in dismay. “Really looking forward to that.” In his head, he was already formulating a whole rant for Sky about how literally nothing about anything he was doing to himself was in any way healthy or safe, so he really couldn’t call himself “lost for words”, but… yeah, excluding that little speech, he had no idea what he would say to Sky. How would he even start? 

Mitch tilted his head. “It could be worse. He could have been a hunter like we thought earlier.”

“Honestly? I’d almost rather have that conversation.”

…

_ Sky watched warily as the hunter walked through the market, stopping to chat with a shopkeeper.  _

_ It had been a few years after Sky was bitten by the time the hunter moved to town. Enough time that while Sky couldn’t quite call himself used to everything, he was at least accustomed to the cage. He didn’t like it, and it was getting increasingly cramped as he grew, but he knew it was necessary. The times he woke up with bloody bite marks over his limbs served to remind him of that. _

_ His mother had warned him to avoid the hunter, and Sky wasn’t inclined to argue. Getting caught and killed wasn’t something he looked forward to. But he wanted to learn how to fight. At the time, he didn’t know how to feel about his father, how to find him, what he would do if he found him, or if he even wanted to see him again. But he wanted to be able to fight if things went badly. And a hunter would definitely know a lot and be able to teach him. _

_ He watched the hunter for a moment longer. Nervously, Sky fiddled with the amulet around his neck, fingers tingling as he played with the golden chain. It was low-karat gold, and it didn’t burn as bad as the purer stuff. His mother had given the amulet to him for protection, and while Sky wasn’t sure if he actually believed that it had real power, it had become like a security blanket to him. One he very much needed at the moment.  _

_ He walked up to the hunter, tugging at his shirt until the hunter noticed him and looked down. “Oh, hey, kid. Are you lost-” _

_ “I want to know how to fight.” _

_ “What?” _

_ “I want. To know. How to fight.” _

_ “...Kid, where are your parents?” _

_ That was when Sky's mother ran up, quickly scooping him up. She immediately started apologizing to the hunter, she'd only taken her eyes off of Sky for a second, she was shocked that he’d run off like that and he was in so much trouble. The hunter only laughed, insisting that it was fine, Sky hadn’t bothered him at all, no need to apologize. _

_ “What were you thinking?” Sky’s mother hissed as she carried him away, out of the hunter’s earshot. “Do you want to get yourself killed?” _

_ Sky shook his head. “I wanted him to teach me how to fight…” _

_ His mother sucked in a sharp breath. “Why would you ever want that?” _

_ “In case I ever see Dad again.” Sky said quietly. His mom went silent, for so long that Sky thought they were going to walk all the way home without her saying a word. He was almost right. They were just a few minutes from home when she spoke again. _

_ “I’ll talk to him. See what we can arrange. But you have to be very careful, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt.” _

_ “Okay.” _

_ “And don’t get your hopes up, I doubt he’ll agree to train a kid.” _

_ As it turned out, the hunter was willing to train a kid. Sort of. It was a lot less intense than Sky was hoping for. After talking for quite a while with Sky’s mom, Fen- turns out that was the hunter’s name- agreed to teach Sky how to fight. But it was very basic stuff. Some sparring with blunt, wooden swords and learning to shoot (toy) arrows, with bits of information about weres sprinkled in. Sky was increasingly certain that Fen was just humoring him, and had absolutely no intention of actually giving him anything like the training a real hunter would receive. _

_ Until they started going over metals. Fen apparently hadn’t gone on a hunt for a long time, but he still had a case full of shards of precious metals. He was showing them to Sky, trying to teach him about what metals hurt what weres. Fen had let Sky touch the samples. Sky hadn’t been paying close attention, and absentmindedly touched the gold. It was certainly made of purer stuff than his amulet. It felt like someone had lit his hand on fire. He recoiled with a cry of pain, steam rising from his fingers. _

_ He looked up to see Fen staring at him in shock. They stared at each other for a long moment. Slowly, Fen closed the case of metals, and began walking towards Sky. “Kid-” Sky didn’t let him finish that sentence. He fled, running away as fast as he could. Fen was older, faster and stronger. He should have caught Sky quickly. But Sky made it all the way home. _

_ His mother looked up as he ran inside. “You’re home early-” Sky ran straight into her, hugging her tightly and crying in fear. He saw the realization on her face. Something had gone wrong. She carefully wiped away his tears, and as she did so, there was a knock at the door. _

_ His mother grit her teeth. “Sky. Go hide in your room.” He didn’t hesitate to flee upstairs, but he paused at the top of the stairs rather than go to his room. He stayed there, out of sight from the door, but close enough to hear what was happening. He heard the door open. “Hello, Fen.” His mother said, ice in her voice. _

_ “Hi. Listen, I just finished a lesson with Sky-” _

_ “Oh, I know.” _

_ “...I know what he is.” _

_ “Uh huh. Fen, we’re doing just fine here. We’ve got the situation under control. Sky’s a good kid, and he knows how to keep people safe from him. If you’re planning on hurting my son-” _

_ “No, no! I wouldn’t ever hurt a kid. That’s not the issue. But… I want to know why a were, especially a kid, is so insistent on learning to hunt weres.” _

_ “None of your business.” _

_ “...I suppose not, but I really would like to talk to him about it. I don’t want the kid getting hurt.” _

_ “Yeah. Me neither. Which is why I’m not letting him take lessons from a hunter anymore. He’ll learn how to fight elsewhere.” _

_ There was silence for quite a bit of time. “I suppose that’s fair, then.” Fen said, quiet enough that Sky could barely hear. _

_ “Yeah. It is. Get out of my house.” Sky’s mother snapped. And that was the last of Sky’s training. A few minutes after Fen left, Sky’s mother called upstairs to let Sky know it was okay to come down. If she realized he’d been eavesdropping, she didn’t mention it. They didn’t talk about Fen at all after that, really.  _

_ The last time Fen’s name was brought up in that house was that night, as Sky’s mom tucked him into bed. “Do you think Fen would have hurt me?” Sky asked quietly. _

_ His mom paused. “...I talked to him for a long time before I would let him near you. He’s only killed someone once. A werewolf who’d killed almost a dozen people before he was caught. He hunts monsters, Sky. If you just stay focused on making sure you don’t become a monster, then you’re safe.” _

_ … _

Sky clung to the top of a bookshelf, glaring warily down at the werefox looking up at him. The werefox got up on his hind legs, reaching up towards Sky. Eyes wide with panic, Sky lashed out, hitting the paw until the werefox backed off. The werefox let out a sad whining noise. “Sky, please come down…”

Sky stared, considering his options. Absentmindedly, he started gnawing on one of his tentacles. He knew he shouldn’t do that. It hadn’t been so bad when he was little and first formed that habit, but now that he was stronger and his teeth were sharper, it hurt a lot. He had to stop, but… well, he had been trapped in a dark, cramped cage, all alone, for all but two (now three) nights he could remember, and the pain was at least something to feel other than boredom and fear.

This was all pretty overwhelming, but the sharp pain as blood dripped from the bite marks helped Sky snap into focus. The werefox had been trying to take him out of this room, which Sky did not care for. He didn’t have a damn clue what was going on, where he was (though it all seemed vaguely familiar, and if he focused he could almost remember something before it made his head hurt too bad to think), or what the werefox wanted with him. 

Then again… he trusted the werefox? Sort of? And he wasn’t sure why? Something about him set off a wave of emotions, of familiarity and warmth and affection. Sky narrowed his eyes in suspicion, flattening himself on top of the bookshelf. He’d only felt that instinctive, instant bond twice before. Once was when he was young, and he’d recognized his mother, only for her to nearly attack him. The second time was actually fairly recently, when he found himself unexpectedly not in his cage, but in the middle of a lake. He’d swum close to the shore and happened to see two figures standing in the shallows, one a vampire and the other one he immediately wanted to protect from said vampire. Really, he hadn’t ended up needing to intervene much more than knocking the vampire off-balance long enough to break their hold, but he felt good about trusting his instincts on that one.

So. Based off his past experiences with that sense of instant bonding, either the werefox could attack him or he could save the werefox from a vampire. And he didn’t see any vampires around here. (Actually, he was pretty sure he could smell a vampire nearby. His sense of smell was worse in the air than it was in the water, so. He might be wrong.) He stayed on the bookshelf. 

The werefox tilted his head. He was quiet for a minute before he spoke again. “Everyone’s worried about you. Please come down. We want to help.” Yeah, that was really convincing. Now that he's said he wants to help, Sky's absolutely 100% certain he's not about to be killed and eaten. 

…And yet, he found himself climbing down. Stupid instant feelings of familiarity and comfort. The werefox yipped, tail wagging as Sky clung to him. Sky kept his grip tight (maybe a little too tight, but it was fine if he accidentally ripped out a few chunks of fur, right? There was plenty to spare) as the werefox carried him out of the room. He really, really hoped he wouldn't regret this.

…

_ Sky was incredibly nervous about moving. Of course, he was nervous for a lot of reasons, most of them common, normal worries to be expected by someone leaving home to live in their own place for the first time. But quite a few worries had to do with him being a weresquid. Sure, this wasn’t the first time he’d been away from home during a full moon. His time fighting the squids often had him stranded in the middle of nowhere with the moon about to rise, but he’d managed to make a more portable, albeit flimsier, cage, and he was about 90% sure that kept the beast sitting still.  _

_ But… those were emergency cases, and he couldn’t be completely sure that everything worked as intended. Honestly, even if the makeshift cages were as effective as he had hoped they would be, it was a miracle nobody had stumbled upon him. Just the concept of Sky’s friends finding out what he was made him want to vomit. And the thought that he- that the monster, not really him, he had to keep reminding himself- might hurt them if they found him? Far, far worse. _

_ He did his best to keep his fear unnoticeable. He built up a plan, and gathered materials. There was already a bit of construction work going on to make the house fit all of them, so nobody would notice a few extra planks of wood lying around. He built a new wall into his room. He made it as narrow as possible, trying to keep it as subtle as possible. He didn’t want anybody asking questions. _

_ He supposed he could avoid quite a lot of trouble by just saying that he didn’t want to move in with the others, simple as that. He’d had quite a few opportunities to back out when they were making plans. But he’d helped pick the place, offered as much as he could afford towards the cost, he had even helped plan the renovations. He wanted to be here with his friends. He’d do anything to make that happen. _

_ The first couple months weren’t great. Same cage and same aquarium (and that was quite a pain to smuggle in without anyone noticing), but the room was different. Back at his mom’s house, at least, the cage had been in a spare room much better than the makeshift space Sky had made. He had the same amount of space he could move around in- none- but the spare room hadn’t felt as claustrophobic somehow. There had been some light leaking from a window, even if the curtains were drawn shut to keep anyone from looking in, compared to the pitch black of the room Sky had made. And Sky hadn't really constructed his little room while considering ventilation, so it was unbearably stuffy (which he thought wouldn't be a problem when in the water, but turns out it was just as bad). Both the heating and the air conditioning had trouble regulating the temperature in there; one extremely bad winter night actually had a crust of ice on the tank's surface, though thankfully thin enough that Sky could break through.  _

_ It was worth it. It was all worth it. ...It  _ had  _ to be all worth it. The changes were hard to adjust to. For months, Sky found himself riddled with burns from throwing himself against the bars, his limbs covered in bite marks. He continued to feel exhausted and anxious for days after full moons; at one point he and his friends went to play a match of Hunger Games the morning after a full moon, and he lost within seconds because he felt so claustrophobic in the tiny booths.  _

_ He tried not to make it obvious that there was something wrong with him. The first month or two, at least, everyone was adjusting to their new home. It was easier to hide then. Even so, Sky was constantly on edge. He wanted to just break down and tell his friends everything. But the dread of what would happen if he did kept him away. He could only imagine the horror and disgust on his friends’ faces when they found out what he was. He didn’t want them to push him away, he didn’t want to lose him. Or, even worse, they would find out and they wouldn’t care. They wouldn’t recognize the danger, they might let him out of the cage, and they could get hurt. That, more than anything else, kept Sky silent.  _

_ He was a monster, he knew that. And maybe he was selfish for living in the same house as his friends. But he took every precaution he could to keep them safe, no matter how much it hurt him. It was all worth it. After all, who knew what would happen if the beast was set free? _

…

Sky hid under the couch, quivering. He’d lasted about ten seconds after he was carried out into the living room. Too much. It was all too much. He had experience with about three environments; in a cage, in a lake, in a forest, and in that last one he’d found a river and then cowered there in confusion and terror until the sun came up. 

It was too bright. Everything in the room was unfamiliar and yet so familiar at the same time, in a way that made his head hurt. And there were so many other weres here. Why would he  _ not _ immediately scramble into the nearest hiding space too small for them to fit? And besides, the space under the couch was dark and stuffy and just barely large enough for him, and that was something familiar at least. The dust was new, though. It got stuck in his gills, which was incredibly unpleasant.

He could hear the other weres discussing. He couldn’t quite make out exactly what they were saying, though. It was all just barking and whimpering and yipping and cawing, etc., etc. It sounded like a damn zoo in here. ...He didn’t know what a zoo was. Why did he think of that word, then? He winced. Ah. Now he had a headache.

He noticed that it had gotten quiet all of a sudden. He blinked, wondering what had happened. He stared at the tiny sliver of the living room he could see from his hiding spot, and saw nothing. His first thought was that something had attacked all the other weres (the thought almost sent him into a panic, though he wasn’t sure why), but surely he would have heard that? Maybe they had all just decided to leave. Odd. Slowly, he began to creep out from under the couch. He carefully crawled out to the middle of the room as stealthily as possible, looking around. Huh. Guess they really left- suddenly, he was pinned underneath a werewolf big enough to be easily mistaken for a bear.

For a moment, he was too stunned to react. The first thing he wanted to do was absolutely lose his mind and start biting the werewolf until it let him go. Seemed like a pretty good plan, picking a fight with a werewolf. That would definitely end well for him. He was about ready to cut his losses and start biting when the werewolf stopped pinning him down, and instead curled around him, tail wagging. 

...Huh. He was still for a minute longer, processing this new development, as he was surrounded by walls of thick fur. This was probably the time to try and get back under the couch and never move again once he's there. But he didn't. Instead, he just sat there. It wasn't that bad, really. 

The werewolf's tail wagged faster when Sky didn't try to leave. Sky saw now that the others were hidden behind the couch. One by one, they came and joined the growing pile of weres (and one vampire) curled up in the living room. Being the smallest and on the bottom, Sky didn't have much of a choice but to stay once the pile was complete. But he found himself not  _ wanting  _ to leave. It was warm and comfortable, and they all registered as familiar, and… something clicked in his brain. It just… felt right, being with all of them. Pack. The word popped into his head, and he considered it for a minute. That specific word for this was probably a werewolf thing. He didn't know what else he could call it, though. So you know what? Screw it. This is his pack. 

…

Jerome had to get up before sunrise. He still wasn't entirely certain how to break it to Sky that they knew what he was, but for Sky to wake up unexpectedly in the middle of the living room floor, surrounded by his friends (a couple of whom had fallen asleep)... didn’t seem like the best plan to avoid him freaking out. Jerome stood, carefully picking up Sky. The weresquid had almost fallen asleep as well, and stirred as Jerome picked him up. Sky looked up at him, more confused than anything at first, but tensed as he realized where Jerome was taking him. 

Jerome carried Sky back into his room, reopening the tiny space with the cage in it. Sky clung to Jerome as Jerome tried to put him back in the cage. “Don’t look at me like that, you’ll be glad I did this later.” Jerome grumbled. Sky let go, though he still looked pretty miserable as Jerome put him down. 

Jerome walked away. He could feel that the moon was starting to set, and as he walked back to the living room, the others were starting to shift back to human. Mitch yawned, stretching, and blinked as he noticed that Sky wasn't there. "Where'd he go?" He asked as soon as his mouth and throat were human enough to form the words. 

"I put him back in the cage." Jerome sighed. 

"...Are you sure that was a good idea?"

“No. But what else could we do? I mean, he’d freak out if he found himself outside the cage with no memory of how he got out.” Jerome said. Everyone was in human form by that point, and everyone looked a bit uncomfortable. 

Mitch frowned. “Jerome, we have to do something.”

“And we will! And we will. I just don’t want to freak him out more than necessary. See, I put him back in the cage, and- oh no.”

“What?”

“I forgot to close the cage door.”

“...Huh. Well, if the cage opens automatically every morning, he won’t notice-”

“I also left the door to the secret space open. He’ll notice that.”

In less than a minute, the door to Sky’s bedroom was flung open. Sky ran into the living room. His eyes were wide with panic. He looked like he was about to ask a frantic question, but then he paused. He looked around at all of his friends gathered there, at the sympathetic and vaguely guilty looks on their faces. He took a step back. “You… you all know.” He whispered. 

Jerome winced, standing up. “Sky, we-” He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. Sky pushed past him, running for the door. Everybody was too stunned to try and stop him before the back door had already been flung open. Sky turned back to look at them, and the last thing they saw were the terrified tears in his eyes before he ran away. 


End file.
